“I’m like a Dandelion, you can’t keep me down!” Abby Lee Miller talks Dance

The famous Dance Moms coach who started out her career as a devoted dance teacher at the age of fourteen, Abby Lee Miller, is now a prominent figure in the dance world. Kids around the world look forward to working with and being coached by Abby Lee Miller. But first, the curious question is, how did an inquisitive and young fourteen-year-old little girl figure out she wanted to teach dance? Abby gives us a little peek through the curtains of her past as she takes us back to her starting days. She was a very pro-active girl who was going for skating lessons, ice-skating lessons, playing the clarinet, joining the swimming team in the summer and more, but most importantly, she also studied dance at her mother’s studio. Originally with the dream to become a choreographer, Abby’s ambitions switched when she had the opportunity to choreograph an acrobatic routine for her friends who danced at her mother’s studio. She entered for the dance competition, choreographed the routine, procured the costumes and edited the music herself. The ambition sparked within her when she found herself proudly holding the little plastic trophy because her routine won!
Surely convincing people to believe in a fourteen-year-old little girl couldn’t have been easy, but Abby had an eye to spot talent. She also took it upon herself to instil confidence within her students for them to understand their potential which challengingly became the most difficult part of it all, but it was the most important part of her teaching career because her students paving their path into professional dance careers meant a great deal to Abby. As many teachers, Abby too expects a few important values from her students and those are punctuality, focus, preparedness to face any situation, an open mind ready to learn new things, impactful with impressions, respect towards their fellow dancers and competitors and lastly, a remarkable work ethic, one should always give their 100% at every given chance.

As we know the American TV personality as a straightforward and humbling coach, surely her ways of teaching have been spoken by many, but in Abby’s words, coddling is up to the moms and dads. She is here to coach the kids and prepare them for a ruthless industry where her dancers will be able to take any corrections and remarks that are thrown at them. “In this ultra-competitive business, we call “show” you must have a thick skin.” Says Abby confidently with her exceptional experience in the dance industry. When posed with the question that how she would describe her time during Dance Moms, she describes it as “Sometimes happy & sometimes sad. Often exuberant, exciting, and victorious. Yet, many moments were horrible, some even horrific. Although, my time on the show was always creative!”
Given that the Dance Moms opened up opportunities for her to be noticed by kids from around the world, she is now an on demand dancing coach who still has her business booming. Even after a traumatic ordeal in regards to her health, she has made it out of the storm bold and formidable as she always does. She confidently shares, “I’m like a Dandelion, you can’t keep me down!” and refers to how she was always raised to be independent and to prove people wrong. “When faced with adversity – you can laugh or you can cry! I’d rather laugh any day.” Abby says with utmost optimism.
Abby nostalgically looks back on how amazing of a role model her mother has been in her life, instilling the love for dance in her students, coming up with a remarkable business model and how she was truly smart and independent in everything she did. Abby had hopes of keeping her studio and continuing her legacy, but unfortunately, everything around the area has changed and the taxes for the building are beyond affordable. Even though she had to let go of the one place her mother and father gave their savings to build where the gorgeous dance floors are where all the magic happened, she will forever treasure the memories in her heart and mind of every child who walked through those doors and danced out. Fortunately, Abby hasn’t given up on her business. She still goes around the world teaching dance to kids aspiring to be great dancers, coached by the one and only Abby Lee Miller.