‘Dance Moms’ recap: The Dancing Dead

This week on Dance Moms the mama drama continued as the team headed to a competition in Orlando, Florida.

At the beginning of practice, Abby exclaimed, “The ALDC is on a roll!” after last week’s group number won first place. She hoped to keep the trophies coming at this week’s competition, but first Abby went over the pyramid.

Brooke and Paige were at the bottom of the pyramid again for not being there. Following them was Payton (because of her smart mouth), and then Asia and Mackenzie. Chloe was the first on the middle row followed by Maddie. Abby explained Maddie’s placement by saying she isn’t doing anything wrong, but she needs to keep pushing herself. If you win too much when you’re little you quit working! After Kendall, the top spot on the pyramid went to Nia! Abby explained Nia’s placement, saying, “Nia is the only child who came to me at the end of the competition and asked what I can do better.”

Abby was so proud of Nia, she gave her a solo for this week, but not any solo; it would be a tribute to Abby’s dog, Broadway Baby, who passed away a while ago. Abby teared up just thinking about it, and admitted, “I have to find my pillowcase.” Solos also went to Chloe with a Latin style dance and Kendall with a contemporary lyrical number

Everyone would be in the group dance this week, which was entitled “On the Verge.” Abby explained it’s about women on the verge of a breakdown, and hinted that it’s really inspired by AWOL dance mom Kelly. At that, Christi rolled her eyes and commented, “I’m on the verge of needing a drink!”

After practice, Abby stopped by the taxidermist to pick up her dead dog, Broadway Baby, that she had stuffed. We hoped Abby wouldn’t make Nia use the dog as a prop in her tribute dance, but luckily Abby said she would keep her in front of the tv. Abby cried at seeing her dog again. “She looks beautiful,” Abby said. “She had a good life, but I should have put her in commercials.”

Back in the studio the next day, Abby was rehearsing the girls’ solos. As she taught Nia her entrance, Abby kept giving a correction that Nia didn’t seem to understand. Abby got so frustrated she gave Nia the ultimatum, “If you don’t do this right, no solo!”

When Nia messed up the part again, Abby yelled at her to get out of the studio. Nia’s mom, Holly, confronted Abby about pulling Nia’s solo, to which Abby denied pulling Nia’s solo at all. However, Abby did tell Holly, “If I tell someone to do something once, I want it done!”

Holly commented to herself, “My lips are shut. I’m just gonna walk away while Nia still has a solo.”

On competition day in Orlando, Florida, none other than Kelly herself showed up. Kelly tried to sit with the team, but Abby wouldn’t let her in their row. Instead of sitting somewhere else, Kelly stood in the aisle next to Abby to watch the competition. “She has the social graces of an ant,” Abby commented.

Nia’s tribute to Broadway Baby was on stage first. Nia knew how much this number meant to Abby and was feeling the pressure to knock it out of the park. It wasn’t a home run routine, but it was definitely a success. Nia was fun and sassy in this jazz style dance.

Kendall was on fire during her solo in a red hot costume. According to Abby, the routine had a little bit of sass and mystery. Kendall did a great job, and her mom looked very proud.

Chloe’s Spanish ballet was the best of the three, though. Although Chloe said she had never danced Latin before, she looked like a pro. The fan she used as a prop added a flirtatious touch to the routine. Christi just hoped she didn’t mess up, saying, “If she drops that fan I’m moving to South America.” Chloe didn’t let her mom down!

The group dance, “On the Verge” was good, but not one of the best routines ALDC has ever done. Abby said that the choreography was very intricate, and sometimes a simple and clean routine scores better than a difficult and sloppy one. Check out the full version of the dance below, not shown on tv!

The judges seemed to agree with Abby, because the group number scored fourth place overall, which was disappointing after last week’s win. Abby was not pleased, commenting, “The only thing worse than fourth place would be Kelly crashing the competition. I think I’ve had enough!”

In the solo category, Nia came in ninth, Kendall earned fifth, and Chloe got second place. Although Abby says second is the first to lose, Christi was very proud of her daughter.

Back in the dressing room, Abby grilled Maddie, asking her how she felt about not doing a solo – was she bored or did she like having a break? Maddie seemed apprehensive to answer, knowing there was no right answer. She finally told Abby it felt weird.

The moms were in their own world arguing about who belongs on the team. Leslie was mad that Kelly showed up, but Kelly told her Payton is only here when she’s replacing Brooke.

Holly told all the moms to remember, “We’re not just raising dancers, we’re raising people.”

Do you think Kelly is creeping around competitions because she misses Abby? Will she bring her daughters back to dance class next week? We’ll find out next Tuesday at 9/8c!

Photo: Twitter