Dance Moms Miami Recap: Twisted Circus, Crazy Clowns

On last evening’s Dance Moms: Miami, the insanity really took a turn.  Susan’s antics threaten to ruin Jessi’s home at the studio, and Debi will turn on anyone to stop others from turning on her.  Victor, Angel, and the kids (oh, and of course Kimmy’s mom Ani) are the only ones not riding Ozzy’s crazy train.

The dancers did an amazing job at last week’s competition, and while Victor and Angel are very proud, there is always room for improvement.  After their most precious little duet, Lucas and Kimmy are in the first and second spots on the list, respectively.  Victor touts Jessi’s solo as “phenomenal” but she’s third for getting a lower score than the two nine year olds.  Susan is peeved.  Her daughter is the best dancer at Stars!  Sammy is fourth on the list for not standing out enough.  Even though Hannah wins her age group, she’s last on the list because she cried before going on stage.  Hannah believes that she just needs to work harder.

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Lucas and Kimmy both receive solos, and the remaining three girls will be dancing a trio.  Susan is appalled–how dare her wonderful dancer have to work with poor, untalented Hannah.  She storms out of the studio.  Angel reminds the group that while Hannah may not be the best, she is a wonderful technical dancer, a hard worker, and she brings a lot to each dance she performs.  He is quick to tell Jessi that the next time her mother leaves in a rage, she will be joining her.  Poor Jessi.  It’s not her fault her mom is cuckoo for cocoa puffs!  Despite the fact that she’s an unknowing rival of Hannah’s mom, Sammy is excited to dance with Hannah again as Hannah’s easy to work with and very nice.  These women should really be taking notes from their kids.

The mother’s are relegated to the viewing room, and Debi just knew Victor and Angel would find a way to place Hannah back at the bottom.  Brigette kindly asks Debi not to rain on the other mothers’ parade in enjoying their kids solos, and she reminds Debi that she was happy as a lark when Hannah had a solo routine last week.  Neither Abby nor Debi can believe Susan’s behavior.  The troupe is working on their group number entitled “Twisted Circus.”  I love Victor and Angel, but where in the hell do they come up with this stuff?  The kids are all very excited about their roles in the dance, except for Kimmy, who is just being a little girl who goes to the circus.  She was hoping for something creepier.

Susan comes back to the viewing room, and she immediately declares that Hannah has no business dancing with the superior JessiDebi is shocked and hurt…she’s always supported Jessi.  She reminds Susan that Hannah is getting better and better with each competition.  Sure, Hannah’s a good dancer, but she’s not amazing according to Susan.  Debi actually takes the high road and leaves the situation.  Ani admits she would do the same if someone was insulting sweet Kimmy.  She is truly the only normal mom on this show.  Susan pulls Jessi aside and tells her daughter that it’s a privilege for Hannah to dance with her, and if Hannah brings down the quality of the trio then she will pull Jessi out of it.  Jessi begs her mom to just trust Victor and Angel.  Hannah is one of her best friends and she thinks they can learn a lot from each other.  Susan isn’t hearing any of it.  I’m actually happy to see Jessi sass off to her mom.

Victor and Angel take the dancers to see true circus performers.  With the exception of one sweet dancer who shall remain nameless, the kids really excel in the different exercises.  Jessi is amazing on the silk banners. Victor even takes a not so pretty turn on the ring apparatus.  Back in the studio, Angel wants Kimmy to focus on letting go in her contemporary solo.  Victor is especially excited about the trio, and he is adamant that Hannah has earned her spot in the dance with all her dedication and hard work.  Hannah is especially excited about the opportunity to prove her haters wrong.  The three girls are having such a fun time rehearsing.  In the viewing room, Debi attempts to make peace with Susan, saying that she realizes Susan and Jessi have struggled and paid their dues with the studio, and she is a champion for Jessi.  That may have worked had Susan not overheard Debi talking crap about her daughter the day before.

Hannah bursts into tears when she hears her mother and Susan screaming about her.  When Angel questions what is wrong, she says she’s frustrated that no one wants their child to dance with her because they think she’s so bad.  I am heartbroken for the poor girl.  These kids are so much better than the loons that birthed them.  Ani tries to break up the arguing by making the women see how upset they are making Hannah.  She tells Susan that Jessi is probably just as sad.  You can tell Susan is thinking, “Yeah, sad to be dancing with Hannah…”  Ani resolves nothing and barely avoids being poked in the eye with all the rabid finger pointing occurring on either side of her.  Victor is forced to move the dancers outside to practice while Angel goes to scold the mothers.  He promises to replace all their children if the moms can’t get with the program.

With two days left until the competition, the kids are thrilled to practice with the props.  Abby is peeved when Mayra relays that there are two more hours left to practice.  Mayra rushes to convey her anger to Angel, and he angrily dismisses everyone since Abby doesn’t want her daughter to commit to rehearsal.  Susan has no clue what will now happen with the trio.  First it’s tainted by a dancer she thinks is sub par, and then another dancer is a giant slacker.  It’s hard being the mother to perfection.  She basically chases Abby and Sammy out of the studio screaming that they have no concept of teamwork.  Um, yeah, I don’t think Susan is any ambassador of teamwork after storming out when she didn’t like her daughter’s dance partner.

Lucas is working with one of the studio’s senior dancers to improve his solo.  Brigette makes sure to rub in the fact that her child was the only one who got to work with a senior performer.  Susan thinks its unfair that Lucas is always getting special treatment.  After his practice, we are treated to an after school special, as well as Lucas’ stellar acting skills.  The scene seems so scripted, but I knew they would address it some point in the season.  Lucas goes from happy to forlorn in 2.2 seconds, and Victor wants to know what is wrong.  After some prodding, Lucas reveals he’s being picked on at school and called gay for being a boy dancer, and he isn’t gay.  Lucas is a whole lot more athletic than most boys, and he’s a mini-Bieber.  He’s got absolutely nothing to worry about.  Don’t think I am making light of his situation, I just know he’s way better than any of the jealous brats who try to bring him down.

Susan warns Debi that if the trio doesn’t look competition-ready, she’s pulling Jessi from the dance.  However, she’s not threatening Debi because of Hannah’s dancing this time around, she’s describing Sammy’s lack of dedication as to why the dance will suck.  Oddly enough, Debi is quick to jump right in against Abby with Susan.  Um, shouldn’t she know how it feels?  Abby won’t apologize–Sammy had a test the following morning.  Brigette joins in on the yelling about Abby’s lack of team spirit.  This is comical.  Poor Ani just sits there.

It’s time for the competition, and Lucas has all the support of his fellow dancers.  He’s very excited to show the judges how an artist really dances.  He is flipping amazing.  Kimmy also did a beautiful job.  Ani thinks that it was Kimmy’s best performance yet, but Kimmy thinks it wasn’t one of her better dances due to timing issues.  Angel thinks she danced wonderfully but also cites the timing and her inability to completely come out of her shell.

After the soloists compete, Susan demands to see the girls practice the trio and threatens to pull Jessi out of the group if it’s not up to her standards.  Victor is fine with that, as long as she knows it will mean Jessi is out of the group dance as well.  He hates to see Susan destroying Jessi’s dance career.  Susan warns Victor that there are other studios courting Jessi, and Jessi urges her mom to stop.  Victor will happily introduce her to other competing studios today if that is what she’d like.  Angel isn’t scared of Susan, so Susan starts going off on how all the children were affected by Abby taking Sammy home early.  Give me a break!  Jessi refuses to feed into her mom’s drama, even when Susan tries to manipulate her daughter into thinking Victor and Angel don’t care about her.

Jessi is shaken by her mother’s tirade, but Susan permits her to dance.  I can’t imagine having all that pressure.  Jessi’s face is tear stained, but the three girls did a great job given the circumstances.  Hannah held her own.  Kimmy places fifth in the solo competition, with Lucas getting a well-deserved first.  The trio places second.  Susan thinks her point has been proven…if Sammy had been dedicated and Hannah knew what she was doing, they would have gotten first.  She is nuts.  The young dancers prepare for their group number.  With the costumes and props, it’s so fun to watch…until Sammy nearly drops Kimmy.  Kimmy plays it off well, and they still garner first place.

Angel calls out the mistake, and Sammy is quick to blame it on Kimmy’s timing.  Oh no she didn’t!  Angel reminds Sammy that they are a team…they win together, and they lose together.  Abby is appalled that they are railing on the number after the group won.  Sweet Lucas goes and whispers to Ani that it wasn’t Kimmy’s fault at all.  Ani appreciates the sentiment, but she’s certainly not going to hold anything against a child who made a mistake.  Brigette however…she wants  to know why Sammy is lying about Kimmy’s timing.  Angel is confused when he enters the room to find Sammy in tears screaming that she’s not lying.  Shame on you, Brigette.  Not surprisingly, Abby is irate and gathers up Sammy and her belongings before storming out, Brigette yelling insults at her the whole way.

Next week, Abby and Sammy are no-shows, and Susan gets into it with both Victor and Brigette.

COULD YOU BELIEVE SUSAN’S BEHAVIOR LAST NIGHT?  COMMENTS ON THE DANCES?  DO YOU THINK SAMMY AND ABBY WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK?

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