- We are doing a new
and everybody's in it.
The entire cast.
It is called Where Have All the Children Gone.
This is a routine about children who become missing.
We've all seen the children's faces on the milk cartons.
It's contemporary.
It's mature.
And it is very dark.
You have to be great actresses to pull it off
and they're all in white like they're angels.
Girls, up.
Let's get moving. Let's get moving.
Come on.
Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
[MUSIC - JOSEPH KERSCHBAUM, "WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN
GONE"] All of the children once running around have evacuated.
Where have all the children gone?
Where Have All the Children Gone
is a very haunting, dark piece of music.
To be honest, I don't really know what the meaning of Where
Have All the Children Gone.
[MUSIC - JOSEPH KERSCHBAUM, "WHERE HAVE ALL THE
CHILDREN GONE"] Children gone.
I love dark stuff because I do dark side
and I even did a missing child thing,
but I don't think that this is age appropriate for Mackenzie
and Vivie at all.
I'm sorry.
It is a very disturbing song.
My kids are fine with it being dark music.
I don't even think they really listen
to the words, whether the costume or the music.
I mean it's just--
that's the art of it.
To me it's about child abduction.
It's a message that I know for Nia makes her very sad
and I'm a little uncomfortable with it.
Come close.
Listen to me.
You're dancing.
You're doing steps.
You're trying to listen to the words.
You're not interpreting the story correctly
and this is very serious because maybe people in the audience
have a child that's gone missing.
So you're going to touch somebody's heart.
So this has to be a very serious routine
and right now, you're just doing the stops
and we need to get past that and we need to perform.
You two understand?
It's very serious.
I am an artist when it comes to complicated choreography,
the children who are the dancers,
they need to become artists as well.
And I want to teach them to convey
the story with their emotional execution
as well as their dance technique.
You ran, you ran, and you stop and you're like uh.
Give me a hand.
Give me a fist.
Uh.
At some competitions, you'll see a lot of dark things
and at others it's your typical upbeat,
fun tap, jazz, whatever.
So I try to get my kids to do everything.
Like you're trying to grasp on to stay alive.
We already know that they can jump
and kick and leap and turn.
That's not in question.
But can they convey this story to the audience?
A story which some of them don't even understand.
Paige, figure out where you're supposed to be.
I think Where Have All the Children Gone
could win because it's a good number.
Where Have All the Children gone.
Choreographically, there is an edginess to it
and it's very subtle.
So I don't even know if the judges
will see all of that happening.
[MUSIC - JOSEPH KERSCHBAUM, "WHERE
HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN GONE"] Their sons and daughters.
Where have all the children gone?
I think artistically, it's a beautiful piece.
But it's pretty somber to see a child choking themselves.
It's jarring.
I don't know, it's just plain creepy.
It's a heavy topic.
I know that.
But I'm trying to challenge them to emotionally
execute the concept along with their dancing.
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome to the stage
Where Have All the Children Gone.
[MUSIC - JOSEPH KERSCHBAUM, "WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN
GONE"] The creaking silence of age echoes through the streets.
Or maybe they just disappear.
Where have all the children gone?
Just yesterday they were tying ribbons in trees
and swinging from the branches.
Metal shelves.
If we put our ears to those shelves.
Where have all the children gone?
Although disturbing, I'm glad my child was a part of that.
I don't think anyone would say it's too heavy and too mature.
Now maybe some of the moms thought that,
but once again, I'm not out to please the moms.
I'm out to please the judges.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, the highest
scoring routine of the day went to Where
Have All the Children Gone.
I questioned that dance from the beginning,
but Abby was right.
She pulled it off.
There were over 280 acts and they were first.
The highest scoring number in the entire competition.
I knew this would be a risk, but it was definitely
a risk I was willing to take.
It made everybody stop and pay attention to my dancers.
I'm Abby Lee Miller.
That's what I do.
Congratulations.