[music playing]
Good morning.
Hi.
Are you dropping her off today?
No, I was wanting to stay.
I mean--
You can stay upstairs.
That's fine.
Upstairs?
ABBY: Yes.
Don't come in the room.
OK.
I know you don't want me to come in the room, but at some point
we have to talk.
Right.
Sunday or Monday I'm going to carve out some time for you.
You're going to carve out some time?
Yes.
MICHELLE: OK.
I do have a question.
Sure.
There's been some things that you've
been saying in front of Sarah about me, and it bothers me.
Like, you're calling me names, and I feel like it's
poison about me to my child.
I'm not those things, Abby.
That's not fair, and you're ruining our relationship.
No. No.
You've done that all by yourself.
No. I have--
Right now, I have to go in, and I'm starting with solos,
and I'm starting with your daughter's solo.
So we can continue to stand out here and talk,
or I can go in there and work.
Not fair.
Life's not fair.
You've got to get over it. - It's not fair.
It's not fair.
It's my daughter, and it's our relationship.
What is going on with this woman?
Sarah is doing a solo this week, and she's also in the group
routine, but yet her mother has this somber sad face and
the shoulders and the posture.
She has a nice figure.
Stand up straight.
Put some makeup on.
Smile.
Sarah, your mom stopped me at the desk again today.
She would be so much better off just stepping back and letting
your talent speak for itself.
I just--
I don't like that my mom can't be around.
I just can't trust that she's not going to explode.
I don't want somebody with that behavior
that can snap that quickly and that
can lose it representing me.
All right, Sarah, you are doing "The Scarlet Letter."
It's a classic piece of literature.
So this A and what it stands for, we are taking that
and I'm morphing it into something else.
The A is for asinine, because I don't
want any more mothers doing asinine behavior on my time.
So you play that bad monster that I
saw your mother play, yes?
All right, let's go.
So layout, flat square, square, square, this way.
There we go.
Twist.
You're going to stay low.
Now whack your left leg out behind your shoulder.
Just really point it hard.
Boom.
Good.
Let's make sure it works musically.
[music playing]
I really want to prove I'm not a second-string dancer.
I used to win all the time, and that's not going to change.
I'm going to get my winning streak back on.
But it's also hard because this solo is about my mom,
and it's something that's completely
untrue and exaggerated.
So it's just really frustrating.
She looks like she's enjoying it and dancing it well,
but it feels like I'm being isolated.
MOTHER: [inaudible]
Last Saturday, I'm outside the dressing room.
Yesterday, I'm not in the pyramid.
I'm sitting up here.
MOTHER: [inaudible]
MICHELLE: She chose Abby.
She was put in a position.
She's 12 years old.
She just said go out.
Then why did you walk out the studio?
Say no, she's my daughter and I will stay in the studio.
Because every day I have a tug of war with this.
I'm pissed at myself, I'm pissed at Abby,
and I'm pissed at Sarah.
OK, so, Michelle, right now your daughter
is in the group piece.
She also has a solo.
So, you know what?
I think, like, the tears and everything need to stop.
Sarah is going to dance, and Elliana
hasn't even started her solo.
So, frankly, I'm over it at this point.
Yeah, there you go.
Good, good.
It's really good.
You're dismissed for now.
We're going to get some lunch.
I don't care what the moms think at this point.
This is bigger than just a competition day.
This is a mother-daughter relationship
that has been nurtured for 12 years
that Abby is trying to flush down a toilet in seven days.
I feel like she's poisoning our relationship,
and she's trying to divide us.
I'm going to tell you something.
You are not choosing a dance teacher over your mother.
No, you did yesterday, and you humiliated
me and sent me out of a room.
I'm going to allow you to dance for this woman,
but this is torture to listen to her put me down day in
and day out.
She is your dance teacher.
She is not your mother.
So you dance, and you live your dream.
But I am telling you right now, a dream is one thing,
but family is everything, period.