ALL: Star power.
Go.
Nia is doing a character piece entitled Laqueefa.
It's sassy.
It's snap, and hip, and head pop.
See how you're, like, going to fall when you finish?
I don't want to see that. Do it again.
Push!
Nia is African American.
And I'm trying to teach her different ethnic dances.
And I'm trying to train her so that when
casting call says ethnic, she can do all of the dances
correctly.
Your abdominal muscles, engage them.
Now march in your own circle, nose up in the air.
Go-- one, two, three, four.
You're going to swing this down, five,
and fan kick big four star flex seven and eight.
Good.
This is the difference between winning it overall.
This is the difference between winning a title
right here, the technique.
Explain that word to me.
We use it all the time.
What does technique mean?
I think it means that you, um--
I really don't know.
You really don't know?
And how many times have you heard it in dance?
1,000 times.
If you are reading a book, and they used a word 1,000 times
and you didn't understand it, wouldn't you
go look up the word? - Yeah.
Abby pushes me really hard, but I don't mind because it
makes me a better dancer.
I have costumes.
[applause]
Look at that.
Woo hoo.
All right, Nia, you're going to put this on first, sweetie.
The costume is darling.
It's really like a satire on the drag queen image.
And it's over the top.
And it's fun, fun, fun.
And it's right up Nia's alley.
NIA: I loved my costume for Laqueefa.
I thought it was amazing.
HOLLY: Why is my daughter the only one
dressed in animal print?
All of the other girls get costumes
that aren't typecasting them.
And, you know what?
I want her in an Afro.
Holly wants her daughter to be like every other little girl.
Nia has an advantage over everybody else.
She can play many different ethnicities.
Different is good.
She has what it takes.
And yet, her mom wants her to be like Page,
and Maddie, and Chloe.
What I took objection to was just about I don't want to be
a stereotypical in the '70s-- - I agree with that.
--wearing an Afro.
MOTHER: I think Holly's being a little over-dramatic.
HOLLY: [inaudible] picking cotton as well, or put a scarf
on her head and be Aunt Jemima.
I don't want that.
MOTHER: Did you just say picking cotton?
HOLLY: Well, that's what it's like.
Oh.
HOLLY: It's the same type of thing.
We have worked so hard to get beyond that.
MOTHER: It doesn't affect-- I agree with you.
HOLLY: For me, it's very political.
Politics is all about who has the power
and who has the control.
I would like for Nia to be beautiful and not stereotyped.
MOTHER: Why she's always depicting this Afro-American
looking thing that-- - Yeah.
[inaudible]
And why-- why the wig?
Nia's solos have appeared to be going
in a particular direction.
And I just-- I feel bad.
There's so many cute things that she could do, you know?
HOLLY: I know.
MOTHER: Don't you let that affect you.
Because you know what?
You are going to go out and just smash it.
Right. See?
See? You're going to kill it.
You could be one of my dancers.
HOLLY: I thought I was put in an awful situation.
I don't want to pull her from dance.
[music playing]
SINGER: (SINGING) Call me Laqueefa,
the post-modern hip hop.
They call me Laqueefa, the post-modern hip hop.
What? Laqueefa!
HOLLY: It just seemed so stereotypical.
ABBY: It is stereotypical, absolutely.
SINGER: What?
HOLLY: It looks like she's the token black kid.
ABBY: I wouldn't use the word token.
If I send her to an audition, it's
going to be an ethnic call.
Nobody else is going to get to go but her.
HOLLY: But what I'm thinking when I'm looking at Nia,
all of her routines it seems is like a jungle theme, just---
It's like there's a little undertone or nuance that
is, like, a little bit of a negativity that I
would just like something that's a little bit more celebratory.
Look, what I'm giving her works for her movements,
for what she does well.
She doesn't have good feet.
She doesn't have great turnout.
She doesn't straighten her knees.
She's way back.
For $250 a month, go somewhere else.
HOLLY: Look at her dress.
Look where I live.
Look what I pay.
I pay, what, almost $100,000 a year in private school tuition.
And you're telling me I can't afford you?
I did not say that.
You have my kid dressed up in an Afro.
Let's not go there.
ABBY: I did not say that.
I--
I would be glad to sit down and have a conference with you.
Think closely about your-- think closely about your words.
ABBY: Holly comes from a world of books.
She doesn't come from my world.
I am trying to give her daughter more opportunities.
Nia could go in for any ethnic role and nail it.
But she needs to have the dance background.
And Holly keeps fighting it on me.
And I'm telling you this with all sincerity,
there's a lot of teachers out there.
If you're not happy, look through the yellow pages.
HOLLY: I am fed up with Abby.
Abby needs to learn that my daughter is a dancer first.
She's not an ethnicity first.