Snoods and Attitudes (My Episode 2 Recap)

The mom conversation after the pyramid was intense.  There was a lot of “mama drama” going on and it was evident that Jill was upset about Kendall’s placement on the pyramid.  After last season’s experience with the pyramid I understand the frustration with seeing your child at the bottom of the pyramid.  Moms have such high hopes and aspirations for their children and it is disappointing when someone does not share your same joy and opinion of your child.  I am the first to admit that I love watching Nia dance.  I think she has talent and potential that needs to be cultivated.  Is Nia the best dancer in the group, no.  But Nia is the best dancer that she can be at this moment because she is trying her best.  I think Nia has a certain charisma and charm that lights up a stage.  Her technique will come over time and while I wait for the maturation and technique to catch up with Nia, I have to set realistic expectations for her and for me.  Nia will most likely not see the top of the pyramid anytime soon, but she can continue to work towards that goal.  The pyramid is a good visual of what she is striving for and we believe her hard work will pay off. 

Where I have fault with Jill’s analysis of the situation is her decision to identify the students who she perceives to be are the “weak” links on the team and go after their spots on the pyramid.  Instead, Jill should focus on Kendall’s individual progress and growth and not another child’s weakness.  I was appalled by Jill’s behavior.  It is not Dancemom behavior that I am used to and I certainly do not like.  We have an informal code of conduct among the Dancemoms and there are certain things we do not say or do because it crosses the line.  We are very intentional in keeping the girls out of our issues and not talking about individual girls.  You can talk about your child’s weakness but another mom should not talk about your child’s weakness.  It may sound petty, but it is the way we operate.  We keep our conversations about the girls in a positive light and talk about growth and improvement in the girls without pointing out the negatives.  We hear enough negatives from Abby that we do not need our support group bringing our kids down. I am still wondering why Jill selected Nia as the dancer to target, odd.  However, I must admit that I doubt Jill could offer any explanation that I would find satisfactory.

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Now it is time to focus on the Apples dance.  I am still trying to figure out the Katy Perry connection to this dance, but putting that aside, it was a cute dance.  I was not a fan of the hairstyles or the costumes for this dance.  I had never heard of a snood before and quite honestly have no desire to ever purchase one again.  The snood experience was frustrating because Abby had a vision of what she wanted on stage but she made no preparation to have the materials/items available to wear for the performance.  Some people had purchased snoods for the group but they did not have enough of the right hair color.  Nia and Chloe did not have snoods so I had to go out and purchase snoods for them.  I initially bought two snoods- one for Chloe and one for Nia. Then I bought a third just in case something happened and I needed a backup.  It was not until later that I realized that each pack had two snoods so I ended up with 6 snoods instead of three.  In some ways it was a blessing to have a surplus of snoods.  In some ways it was curse because I was short one snood for the group dance if we wanted all seven girls to have the same snood.  Regardless, I tried my best to find the right materials for the costume despite the late notice. 

I went to 4 different stores in search of snoods and only one store had anything remotely similar to what I was looking for.  Two stores laughed at me when I inquired about snoods and one store was sold out because they had sold their last 3 or 4 to a dance team the day before (that would be the other members of our team who had them). The last store I could get to before the bus left helped me figure out the closet thing they had in stock that resembled a snood.  I never intended to go to four stores to look for snoods and I certainly would never have traveled to 14 stores in search of snoods.  My time is precious and I have no desire to travel across the Pittsburgh region looking for snoods.  Abby was sadly mistaken.  Honestly, I do not think the audience or judges could tell the differences in the snoods.  I don’t think the variety in snoods affected the girls’ performance or dance score.  I know Abby is particular about these things as the dance teacher and choreographer and I can respect that. However if she feels that strongly she can get her own snoods in the future, that way she can get what she wants.

I have had wardrobe malfunctions before related to hair so I get paranoid when it comes to hair being in place.  It is an awful feeling when you watch your child perform and then something goes wrong with the hair and/or costume.  It is my job as a Dancemom to make sure the costume and hair are in place. When a malfunction occurs I have failed at my job and I have let my daughter and her team down.  I always try my best but I am not perfect.