We have three solos for the national win.
Pressley, your piece is inspired by Annabelle,
a possessed doll.
Brady, you are doing a musical theater jazz routine.
Think about the Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra.
That's the vibe.
Lilly, your routine is called "Inside Out."
One half of your body will be Lilly.
The other half will be painted
to show the muscles, the tendons, and the skeleton.
Do we all understand? Any questions about the solos?
Yes?
I don't understand why I don't have a solo
because there's three kids on the team--
Because I don't want you to have one!
Is that a good enough answer? I'm not giving another excuse.
It's my company, I say no.
Can you stomp your feet when you say it?
That's what it sounds like. A little brat.
Are you making fun of me
'cause I'm in a wheelchair and can't stomp?
I'm making fun of you 'cause you made fun of my kid all year,
that she's some kind of brat, and she's not.
-She asked you a nice question-- -No, you're the brat!
[mom 1] You're gonna slap the paper like that?
Are you serious? Why don't you give her an adult response?
A professional response?
You're just not good enough.
-[gasps] -I... I won!
You want a professional response?
-That's it. -Wow.
Your left leg's not as high as your right.
You bobble on your turns. The last solo I gave you,
you choked and you changed the choreography.
Don't cry!
Don't you dare cry.
You know what you said in the beginning?
See this heart? As a dancer, you put your heart on the line.
And you know what? Someone's gonna stab it.
And you know what? Who thought it'd be you? Who?
[bleep]
You're pissing me off.
Snooki, get out. Trash.
-[girl] Don't call my mom that. -Stop calling me names!
She's not trash. She's not trash!
She's not trash!
Why is she talking like that?
You're pissing me off!
You cause all this animosity.
I have three solos at nationals. You are not one of them.
Let it go.
[girl] I don't understand why I have to prove myself, then.
'Cause I've been proving myself since week one.
You just didn't get picked. That's it. It happens.
She don't believe in you, Gia. Just let it go.
[Abby]
that just keeps skipping,
and skipping, and skipping, and skipping, and skipping,
and skipping.
She should just skip right on out of here.
I want to get started on the group routine.
Moms...
[Gia] Did she really call me not good enough?
[Joanna] Oh yeah. She doesn't believe in you.
Don't get upset about it.
[Gia] I thought she was gonna be nicer.
But we're talking about Abby Lee Miller,
who only sees her reflection.
And that's the only person she cares about.
Go learn your group dance,
and let me deal with this freakin' lady in here.
'Kay? 'Cause she don't like when I talk to you.
'Cause you know what? Mommy speaks the truth.
And the truth of the matter is, she discounts you
'cause she can't take credit for your success
that you had prior to coming here.
[Gia]
but I've beaten everybody on this team except for Lilly.
Why do you think I wanted a solo?
So I can go up against Lilly.
Brady has had three chances and he still hasn't won.
But I'm gonna make this group dance the best yet,
and show Abby that I am good enough,
or else I wouldn't be here.
[Abby] Oh, your knee's bent, Paige.
Mackenzie, you should be on the outside of Nia.
Let's move Kendall back in and pull her up a little taller.
Uh... you, girl in the front, move over to the right.
You shouldn't be center.
Move.
[mom 2] Abby won't refer to Chloe by her name.
She keeps calling her "that girl" or "her" or "she."
I mean, like, how belittling can you get
to not even say someone's name?
[Abby]
but you can't take anything for granted.
Because even if you're gone,
the show must go on.
So, Chloe, if you want me to "remember" your name,
then you need to prove it to me.
Make me remember.
All right, we're gonna break right now.
You have one more day to work on this dance,
and that's it. One more day.
[girls] Thank you.
[Chloe speaks tearfully]
What'd she say?
And she's being really mean to her.
[Chloe]
really isn't acknowledging me and saying my name,
and that kinda hurts my feelings because
I'm still a person.
Oh, Chloe.
Abby's refusing to say Chloe's name because she feels
that if she doesn't say Chloe's name,
she takes away her importance.
[Christi]
Don't give her that satisfaction.
Don't give her the power to upset you.
Are you okay?
Yeah. [sniffles]
-You sure? -Yeah.
You're my daughter.
Like, come on.
You got a little bit of me in you.
-[chuckles] -Buck up.
[Christi]
And next...
Payton.
Payton, you can't be a baby.
We have a baby. That's Mackenzie,
and she's not a baby anymore.
-You can't put it right there. -Why?
It doesn't go in.
[mom 3] It's gonna have to go in.
If you let me hurt you, it'll go in.
Stop acting like a baby. You're 16 years old.
And everybody's watching you cry.
She just wasn't happy!
I know, but we don't care if she's happy.
But that's just it! You don't care that she's...
[Abby] That's ridiculous.
You're crossing the line.
[Abby] That's it. I said it.
It's done and it's over with.
She has to realize what she's doing.
[Payton] She yells at me all the time!
I will go in and talk to her about it.
No, Mom, stand up for me.
If she said that to Maddie,
all the moms would've helped her out.
You know what? How many times do I say,
"Let's not go back to this studio"?
And you choose to come back here.
So do you want to stay or do you want to go?
Payton?
I bring you onto the team one more time
because you are a rock star in this dance studio.
You represent the Abby Lee Dance Company
tremendously when you go to conventions
and you go to masterclasses.
But you don't understand
the big picture.
Abby, I come to the studio because I love you,
and I love the teachers, and I love the kids,
and I love dancing here.
That's why I do not quit.
There's nowhere else that I want to be
than in this studio.
-That's wonderful! -[Payton] I come here to dance.
[Abby] When you go to New York or LA,
the people auditioning you
aren't gonna waste their time
telling you what you can do better the next time.
They're just gonna cut you. Get it?
Yes.
[Abby]
It's a tough world out there.
And if you want to make it as a professional dancer,
you need to start listening to your teacher.
Girls.
You have to understand
that when I tell you something,
do it.
[tense music plays]
All right...
Focus.
Represent.
The pressure I'm feeling this week is because
I'm their national winner, so...
And I don't want to let Miss Abby down.
[audience cheers and applauds]
[tense music plays]
[host on mic]
open, ages 9 to 10, "In My Heart."
[soft piano ballad plays]
♪ I saw you in my dream last night ♪
♪ You had your smile so wide ♪
♪ I thought your teeth were the stars ♪
♪ Your eyes, they were like tiny rivers ♪
♪ Well, it gave me the shivers ♪
♪ When you looked right up at me ♪
♪ We never got to say goodbye ♪
♪ We never sat down and cried... ♪
[dramatic music plays]
[whimpers]
[audience reacts]
[Maddie sobbing]
[Maddie] No, Mom!
[Maddie crying]
Abby's gonna freak out!
I've never done this before.
[Maddie breathing rapidly] Can I please go again?
Please? Please?
Abby's gonna hate me.
[mom 4]
I think that Melissa and Abby
both put way too much pressure on that kid.
She's nine years old.
Every single week, she has a solo,
a duet or a trio, and a group number.
And Abby wants Maddie to be her winner,
but she doesn't care that she's gonna burn the kid out.
It's not fair. They just threw you out there.
-[bleep] -[Maddie sobs]
-Shh, shh. -Abby's gonna hate me!
[Melissa] She is not. Baby, look at me.
She's gonna hate me. I've never done this.
-I've never done this. -Shh...
[Chloe]
and all of a sudden I hear the music dying down,
and then I hear footsteps coming from the stage,
and then I heard Maddie say that she forgot her dance.
I'm a little bit nervous for my solo
now that... like, from all the chaos backstage.
[huffs] All I can do is cross my fingers.
[Christi]
Nia forgot her solo, Abby didn't cry.
Paige forgot her solo, Abby didn't cry.
Chloe forgot her solo, Abby didn't cry.
Maddie forgets her solo, it's waterworks.
Abby only cares about one person,
and this is a blatant display of that.
[Maddie crying]
[Melissa] Tell her how it feels, Chloe. You did it too.
And I just feel so bad
'cause I know exactly how it feels.
We've all done it by now.
Nobody's perfect.
[Melissa] Maddie, honey, you're so hard on yourself.
You have to stop this, okay?
Dance isn't that important, Maddie.
[Maddie] Yes, it is.
[Melissa] But it's not your whole life.
Well, it is your whole life and it shouldn't be.
This is way too much pressure.
It's really hard when your daughter's crying,
saying she's a failure, and she's nine years old.
You're not a failure when you're nine years old.
Not at all.
And she kept saying, "Abby's gonna hate me.
She's gonna hate me."
And it really breaks your heart.
Abby's not gonna hate you, Maddie.
I didn't even hear them announce my daughter.
[Abby] That doesn't matter.
I'm just saying. It was thrown off.
I don't want to make excuses. Every kid forgets their dance.
[Melissa] She thinks you hate her.
-I'm sorry. [sobs] -[Abby] Sweetheart...
[Melissa] Aww. See? She thinks you hate her.
See? I told you she doesn't hate you.
Maddie, it's not your fault, honey.
You are such a fabulous kid.
[Maddie sobbing]
See? Abby loves you, Maddie, 'kay?
She knows what a kid you are.
[Abby]
She screwed up just like everybody else.
But you know what? Maybe they won't all be vultures
and be after her all the time now.
Girls. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. We're not gonna play that game.
You can see her later. We're not gonna play that game.
We're not playing the game.
I'm not playing games either.
But I also know that my child ran off the stage.
I didn't see any tears from you, Abby,
when my kid ran off the stage, okay?
So point noted.
I don't care. I don't care.
I know you don't care. That's my point.
Found that incredibly cruel
that there is a teacher who's sitting there,
having a pity party for herself
because her student forgot a dance onstage.
And other students, every other kid in that room,
has had that same experience.
They all could've used a dance teacher
who cared about them.
Awards.
I'll take you down.
[Christi] Gotta be supportive of your friends.
[Holly] Any child being onstage
forgetting their dance, it's humiliating.
-It's happened to all of us. -To everyone.
But she even said to Maddie. She said she didn't care.
And she didn't want any excuses, she could care less.
Yeah, but there was not a tear shed for another child
in this company.
That's my issue.
These are children!
And you cry for whatever reason for one child and not the other?
-They all hurt the same. -And the kids know.
It was so obvious and transparent.
I've tried to deny that for years
and give Abby excuses.
"That's just the way she teaches."
"That's just the way she is."
But today was like black and white. No, it's not.
It's not the way she teaches for all.
There's a double standard. There's a different system.
It is not equal.
Why don't you care if all the other kids forgot their dances,
but you care for Maddie?
My kids have been with you since they were two.
I've been with you for 30 years, and you didn't care
that Paige came off the stage and forgot her dance.
She told Maddie she didn't care she forgot, either.
She sat there and cried.
[Holly]
because she knew she was wrong.
For once, someone called her on something,
and she had nothing to say.
Moms, it's awards.
[Holly] Thank you.
Thank you. We're ready to go.
Thank you.
[sobs]
Where do I go?
[Christi] How come you didn't come to awards?
Chloe's your dancer. You should've been there.
One of the things you already told them
is that save it for your pillow
in your hotel room or in your bedroom.
And you should model that behavior for them
and sat in the front row,
put your game face on--
Come paddle me. Let's just get it over with.
That's a visual I do not want to see.
Paddle. Take the paddle.
I'll give you my tongue-lashing, 'cause shame on you.
'Cause that's what you give the girls.
[Abby]
And I don't care if I hurt their feelings.
They're grown adults, they can handle it.
If they want their kids to be nurtured and coddled,
they need to take them back to nursery school.
You always say, like, you know, "Act professional,
act professional. Grow up."
This isn't really professional model behavior.
Yeah.
[mouthing]
I could not just sit there and say nothing,
after all that my child has experienced,
as well as many of those other kids.
It's not right. It just is not right.
-[Chloe] Hi. -Hello. Congratulations.
-You should be proud. -Good job, Chlo.
Everyone is proud of you.
-[Chloe] Thank you. -Be proud of yourself.
Abby didn't say, "Chloe, you were fabulous."
She didn't say, like, "Oh, Chloe, way to go,
that was amazing." Nothing. It was all about Maddie.
It's amazing to me. It's amazing.
But there's no favoritism.
Not at all.
[tense music plays]
[Abby] All right, guys. See ya on the flip side.
So Abby says very cryptically, "See you on the other side,"
and leaves the door.
Like, what's going on?
And the only one in the room who doesn't seem confused
is Melissa.
-[Melissa] She's going home. -[Christi] What do you mean?
[Melissa] She's... leaving, right now.
[Holly]
This can't be real.
I lost a lot of respect for Abby.
I really did.
-Hi. -[driver speaks indistinctly]
It's funny how all of a sudden when things don't go Abby's way,
she's running home. I think it's ridiculous.
You're leaving because you're embarrassed
about the way you act earlier today.
[Kelly] Where are you going?
Go to the hotel, get my stuff, going right to the airport.
I need a break.
I need a break from these moms, a break from these kids,
a break from the yelling.
What do you want us to tell the kids?
Your kids are fine.
They're great.
They have been trained
even as young as seven years old.
They know what to do, and they're fine without me.
[Kelly]
and I have never seen her like this.
I'm shocked.
[dramatic music plays]