Abby Lee Miller says small-town dancers still stand out ahead of South Beloit workshop

Ahead of her upcoming South Beloit workshop, Abby Lee Miller spoke with Rockton-Roscoe News about dance culture, social media, reality television, and why she still enjoys working directly with young dancers in smaller communities.

The longtime dance instructor and former Dance Moms star is scheduled to appear Saturday at Willowbrook Middle School for a dance workshop hosted by Miss Andrea’s Dance Factory. The Rockton dance studio, led by owner Andrea Abbott, serves dancers from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin and recently expanded the event into a larger venue after early ticket demand outgrew the studio space.

Saturday’s event begins with photo opportunities at 1 p.m., followed by a warm-up, legs and feet technique session, a combo and audition workshop, an acrobatics session for VIP dancers, and an “Abby Lee Spills The Tea” Q&A later in the evening.

While Miller became nationally known through the Lifetime network‘s hit reality series Dance Moms, she said teaching and traveling to workshops around the country has been part of her life long before television.

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“Before the TV show, I used to travel all over the U.S. and into Canada judging competitions, teaching master classes,” Miller said. “I did all that before the show.”

Miller said she still enjoys visiting smaller communities and believes some of the strongest dancers often come from rural areas and small towns.

“Kids dance everywhere,” Miller said. “Often, you find the best talent in those rural areas.”

She said one of the most rewarding parts of meeting dancers in person is seeing how many were inspired to start dancing after watching Dance Moms.

“When I see those kids shoot their hands up, I know that I did something right,” Miller said.

She also described the excitement of watching younger dancers finally master a skill they have worked toward.

“When a little one, six or seven years old, gets their aerial for the first time and they run and hug you, that’s still exciting to this day,” Miller said.

Miller said dancers attending the South Beloit workshop do not need to be elite competitive performers to participate.

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“It’s not advanced,” Miller said. “Beginner dancers can come. Once-a-week recreational dancers are more than welcome.”

Miller said some dancers sometimes hesitate to attend events like hers because they assume the workshop is only for elite performers.

“A lot of kids think, ‘Oh my God, I don’t look like Maddie. It’s going to be too hard,’” Miller said. “No, not at all.”

She said she adjusts workshops based on the dancers in the room.

“I can read the room,” Miller said.

Miller also pushed back on the idea that younger or recreational dancers should feel intimidated attending the event.

“I know what I’m doing,” Miller said. “I taught beginners six, seven, eight-year-olds jazz and acro for 30 years in Pittsburgh.”

Miller said she wants students walking into the workshop eager to learn and open to trying new things.

“When you walk into a room, you smile and you are open, and a teacher looks at that kid and thinks, ‘Wow, I want to work with that kid,’” Miller said. “That kid is eager to learn, and that’s what I like to see.”

Miller said she focuses less on teaching a single routine and more on giving dancers skills they can continue using long after the event ends.

“I kind of teach things about your feet, your legs, your flexibility, kicks, and leg holds that you can use throughout your dancing for years,” Miller said.

The workshop also includes a mock audition experience designed to show dancers what television casting environments can feel like.

“We do this mock audition to see what it’s like to be on a television show,” Miller said.

Miller also spoke about how much the dance industry has changed since Dance Moms first aired more than a decade ago.

She said social media platforms have completely changed how dancers practice, train, and evaluate themselves.

“I’m going to get hate for saying this, but I think every kid needs a phone,” Miller said while discussing access to tutorials, flexibility exercises, and performance videos online.

Miller said dancers now have the ability to review performances repeatedly before posting them online.

“When it’s on your phone and you’re going to post it, you can do it over and over until it’s perfect,” Miller said. “Every time the kid does it over, it’s getting better.”

Miller also addressed the continued resurgence of Dance Moms online as full episodes continue streaming on Hulu while scenes from the series regularly circulate across TikTok, YouTube, and social media.

She encouraged viewers to support creators directly through personal platforms and social media, noting cast members do not receive residual payments from the show’s continued popularity online.

“We don’t get any residuals, none of us, not a penny,” Miller said.

Miller also encouraged fans to follow her current projects online, including her podcast Leave It On The Dance Floor and her YouTube channel.

The interview also touched on how dance competitions shown on television were structured during filming.

“They were not fake,” Miller said. “But they were set up for us.”

Miller said competitions were structured around filming schedules and specific age divisions needed for production, but the dancers and performances themselves were real.

She also said the show dramatically expanded interest in competitive dance nationwide.

“These competitions that first hosted us many years ago have exploded because of being seen on the show,” Miller said.

Miller discussed another side of the dance industry many parents may not realize exists: competition between studios themselves.

She said larger workshops are often held in neutral venues like schools and cheer gyms not only due to space constraints, but also because many studios do not want students attending events inside competing studios.

“Dance teachers do not want to send their students to somebody else’s dance studio down the street,” Miller said. “They’re competitors.”

Abbott previously told Rockton-Roscoe News the workshop quickly drew interest from dancers throughout the region, including students from multiple studios and surrounding communities.

Beyond touring workshops, Miller said she continues traveling extensively for appearances, speaking engagements, and dance-related events. She recently spoke and taught at Oxford University.

“For the rest of my days on this earth, I can say that I taught at Oxford University,” Miller said.

Miller laughed while talking about the experience, saying she never imagined she would one day teach at Oxford after struggling with early mornings during high school while balancing dance and teaching responsibilities.

As Saturday’s South Beloit event approaches, Miller said she hopes dancers leave with practical skills — and perhaps a different impression of her than the one some viewers formed from television.

“I want them to remember that I was nice and they learned something,” Miller said.

Additional tickets for portions of Saturday’s event may become available, according to Miller during the interview. Information about the workshop can be found through Miss Andrea’s Dance Factory and Leap Events.

Readers can also watch part of Miller’s interview with Rockton-Roscoe News in the linked video on our YouTube channel.