Abby Lee Miller continues “living on the dance floor.”

On Sep. 9 2023, the first episode aired of  “Mad House,” a new dance show, similar to the well-known “Dance Moms” which aired for eight seasons before ending in 2019 after 235 episodes. The new show can be watched on Brandon TV streaming.

Abby Lee Miller is well known throughout the dance community—as well as the reality TV community— as very high tempered and strict. Miller, 58, is now a quadriplegic after a battle with a spinal infection left her wheelchair bound in 2018. This did not stop her from continuing to teach dance and do everything she previously loved to do.

On “Dance Moms,” Miller was known to make many kids cry while in practice but has also turned out many of the best dancers of this generation. Some of her students include dancers Maddie Zeigler, Kalani Hilliker, and Chloe Lukasiak, among others.

Many of these dancers are now actors, starring in shows like “Dancing With The Stars,”, the Nickelodeon show “Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn,” and “Austin and Ally,” on Disney.

Mel McCullough a sophomore, remembers watching Dance Moms as a kid, and looks forwards to watching the new production.

“I think it’s gonna spark a lot of the old fans to come back and gonna have a lot to viewers,” Mel, 16, said.” I think it’s gonna make a lot of money.”

The new show is different from the last, now containing 20-year-old dancers instead of teenagers.

The location is in a house, where the dancers will compete to be in Millers Elite dance team and learn from the best.

The intended audience will mostly be older viewers, as it is rated PG-13. The crowd will be more of a mature audience, hopefully bringing in more dancers rather than reality TV fans.

Julianna Tatar, a junior, hopes that the show will be more dance based, rather than based on the drama.

“I haven’t seen it yet but I think it’s overdone,” she said while discussing Dance Moms. “But now the whole power is on Abby now, so she has control over everything and not producers. I like the dynamic but I would miss the team, I liked that on dance moms it was one team that you were familiar with.”

She added, “Without the moms it will be less crazy and less entertaining, but it would be good because it’s more dance focused, and not on the drama.”

Some dancers, including co-captain of the Dance team, Nick Sobon ’24, hope to see more of the dancing, and less of the importance on drama.

“I think that everyone watched for the drama, but I watched it for the dance,” Nick explained. “I think there is a lack of pull because people are missing the original members, what they brought,” he added.

If viewers are looking for more of a dance focused show, Nick recommends “‘World of Dance,’—it gave a good insight, all the big names were on it, it was authentic, but it went off the air a few years ago sadly,” he said.

Williston Dance teacher, Noel St. Jean, finds the style of which the show is made to be very focused around drama. She adds that she feels that the actual dance community is nothing like these shows make it.

“In the studio we train our bodies, our minds, and our souls,” she said. “Dance educators prioritize the well-being of their students. While we teach a movement vocabulary, we are also developing artists who have unique voices that should be heard.”