Miss Andrea’s Dance Factory bringing Abby Lee Miller workshop to South Beloit

A local dance studio is bringing Abby Lee Miller to South Beloit, and interest is already building.

One tier of tickets has sold out ahead of the May 30 workshop, which is expected to draw dancers from multiple studios and fans of Abby Lee Miller from across the region.

Miss Andrea’s Dance Factory, a Rockton-based studio led by owner Andrea Abbott, is hosting the event at Willowbrook Middle School.

Abby Lee Miller, a Pittsburgh-based instructor and choreographer, founded the Abby Lee Dance Company and has spent decades training competitive dancers. She gained national attention through Dance Moms, where her direct and often intense coaching style — along with her choreography — helped launch the careers of dancers including Maddie Ziegler and JoJo Siwa.

The event is expected to draw dancers from several studios across the region, along with attendees who are simply fans.

Abbott said she wasn’t the one who made it happen, instead pointing to one of her studio’s own longtime dance moms, Rachel Mears.

“I just don’t want to take credit where credit’s not due,” she said. “She saw it online and made it happen.”

Mears, whose daughter Autumn has danced at the studio for years, came across the opportunity through Miller’s website and helped bring the event to the area. Once word got out, it spread quickly.

“As soon as the kids found out, they were talking about it at school,” Abbott said. “Then other studios started reaching out asking how to get involved.”

Organizers initially planned to hold the workshop at the studio, but space became an issue as interest grew.

“There’s a minimum number of dancers needed, and we just wouldn’t have had the space for everyone to move,” Abbott said.

The workshop was moved to Willowbrook Middle School to make room.

Abbott has spent more than three decades in dance, leading Miss Andrea’s Dance Factory and teaching generations of local dancers. The studio recently returned from a three-day regional competition, the final competition season for this year’s senior dancers. She said, “Nobody has a better job than me.” Several of her former students have gone on to teach alongside her, while others are now raising the next generation of dancers coming through the program.

Abbott said she did have some hesitation about hosting the event at first, thinking back to Miller’s reputation on television, but that changed once she learned more.

“There’s no way she’s going to travel across the country doing these events and be rude to the kids,” she said.

Ticket options include a VIP dancer experience with a Q&A and acrobatics portion, as well as a general dancer ticket focused on technique and choreography. Observer tickets are also available.

“We’ve got kids coming from multiple studios, and people that didn’t even know we were here,” Abbott said.

“I just hope it opens people’s eyes to what’s happening in their own community and how impactful dance can be.”

Tickets and additional details can be found on the event page at leapevents.com.