The dance routines the girls perform are often done in competition styles, such as lyrical, hip hop, and acro. These styles involve lots of dramatic acting, and trying to impress competition judges. This goal of appealing to the judges is also pursued through flashy costumes covered in feathers and sequins.
However, there is more to dance than doing flips, aerials, and sassy faces. The ALDC teaches competition style, where the world of dance and professional dance companies mocks the idea of competitions like "Starbound." The technique that goes into proper ballet training and dance foundation takes years, and there is no way the show's young dancers could've perfected their dance talent so young. Also, the majority of the show features jealous fights, angry tears, and costume crises. I can testify to the fact that not once have moms at my studio gotten into a fight like the one linked in the video above.
So why would a harmless reality show be offensive to an entire art industry? Well, the show's ever increasing fan base, many of them being non-dancers, develops the idea in their head that the dancing on the show is the proper way dancing should be done. Having a rather "large" women like Abby Lee Miller representing the face of dance is not exactly a dream come true for hard working professional dancers. Below is a clip of the ALDC dancers auditioning for the Jeoffrey Ballet, a prestigious dance company. The judges all appear mortified at what dances are being presented to them as "ballet."
"I'm sorry but this Dance mom show is straight up abusive,” is what Dancing With The Stars professional Dancer Derek Hough had to say. Below is a clip from a dance mom's episode in which a young girl forgets her dance solo on stage. Abby's reaction is quite shocking, especially as a dancer myself. No normal teacher would be so personally offended by an honest mistake.
Though many find the outrageous mom fights and in-human acrobatic skills entertaining, Dance Moms represents a small part of the dance world, and a lousy part at that.