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That's the show they came up with that whole process." Miller had never used a pyramid in her studio prior to Dance Moms, and when once asked about it, Miller stated, "I've never done that in my life.
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Every week on the show, Miller used a pyramid of individual headshots and gave feedback to each girl about her ranking, previous week's performance, attitude, effort, and the behavior of the girl herself and her mother. The show features Miller as an extremely strict dance team coach who, over the series, relied more and more on criticism, sometimes personal, to motivate the girls, with an emphasis on hard work and competition against teammates. The show's success was often credited to the drama and conflict among Miller and the moms, along with the weekly dances and the close relationships among the girls as viewers watched them grow up and improve their skills. Various rival dance teams spurred the team's competitiveness. Dance performances were creatively conceptualized by Miller and her dance instructors, with input from the show's producers, while the choreography was done by Miller, her staff, and occasionally a guest choreographer. The series depicted the doting mothers as rivals of each other on behalf of their daughters, often arguing with Miller and each other, and sometimes closing ranks against rival teams. Primarily set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and later in Los Angeles, California, the show originally followed the Abby Lee Dance Company's Junior Elite Competition Team of dancers aged 6–16 as they traveled week-to-week to various dance competitions, winning awards and preparing for Nationals, while at the same time being prepared by Abby Lee Miller to be "professional, employable working dancers". "Living on the Dance Floor" performed by Nikko LoweĢ24 (including 10 specials) ( list of episodes)
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