max ziegler | dance moms

From Ballerinas to Showgirls

We arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I was so excited! We're in Las Vegas people!

"Come on, girls," Mommy said as we got out of the van, which took us to the studio we were going to be using.

"Welcome to Las Vegas!" Miss Abby exclaimed as we walked in. We set our bags down in front of us, waiting for Miss Abby to speak. "I want to reflect on StarPower last week. Some of you did really well. However, as a whole, not so great. I brought Brandon in, I thought that would do the trick, and the dance was a mess. The competition in Las Vegas this week is Thunderstruck, and we have four days to prepare. As a group, this particular group, has never not placed in the overall high scores. So you need to be flawless this week."

Miss Abby then moved onto the pyramid, which was all of our pictures on the mirror with red paper covering them.

She lifted up Vivi-Anne's which had a large red X on it.

"Vivi-Anne. Not here. Her mother made it quite clear she was not traveling to Las Vegas, so you know what? This poor little girl is going to suffer. Her mother didn't follow the rules. Let this be a lesson to all of you, and to all of your mothers. If you don't follow the rules and you don't give me 100%, I will yank your number from the competition."

"Next up, Mackenzie. Honey, I'm sorry you lost your duet partner. You too, Max. However, Mackenzie, I want you to practice on all of your jumps and all of your tricks, because next week you will definitely be competing," Miss Abby continued.

"Okay," she muttered.

"Max. I thought you were excellent in the pageant. You ended up being third, beating a whole bunch of girls who are twice your age. Well done," Miss Abby spoke.

"Thank you," I whispered, nodding.

"Paige. Your performance is good, but you're not winning and you're not placing in the overalls. And I feel that you should be placing definitely in the top ten. This is your city. You have the long legs, you have the look, yes? Because of that, Paige, you're getting a solo. Understood?" Miss Abby asked, and she nodded. "Second row. Nia. Last week in Orlando, you finally won your category. I think you need to do that all the time. So, I hope that your mother now trusts me and doesn't question my every move. I've had it with that. It's what you do on stage that matters. Not the choreography, not the costuming. It's you and your technique that is gonna win the first place. It felt good to win, didn't it?"

"Yes," she replied, smiling.

"Yes. This week you get another solo, and I expect you to win again," Miss Abby told the girl, who nodded. "Brooke, you did a great job, but you didn't make the top three. Yes, I understand the girls were a lot older, but you can't use excuses. You should blow them away. You are doing a solo, and just like Paige, this is your city. You've been talking about Cirque for years, since you were a little kid. Certainly, somebody from Cirque is going to be judging you here. So you need to step it up and make sure they know your name at the end of the competition."

"Now, at the top of the pyramid, Chloe. Now, you're probably wondering why, because Chloe didn't dance last week. I keep hearing, 'nobody can win because Maddie wins.' Well, you know what? This is your shot. Maddie, I'm giving you the week off. No new solo," Miss Abby said, and Maddie raised her eyebrows. "Chloe, you wanted this shot. Your mother, all I hear is it's 'Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie.' Well, you know what? This is your shot. Here we are in Las Vegas, and you better win."

𝘾𝙝𝙡𝙤𝙚

𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙉𝙞𝙖

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