Abby Lee Miller

Abigale "Abby" Lee Miller (born September 21, 1965) is an American dance instructor, choreographer, and the director and owner of Reign Dance Productions. She is also the founder of the Abby Lee Dance Company and appears on the reality television series Dance Moms.

Early life

Abby Lee Miller was born in Miami to Maryen Lorrain, a dance teacher, and George L. Miller. She was raised a Roman Catholic. During her school years, Abby studied dance and choreography.^[1]

Career in dance

Miller grew up around dance, studying under her mother's direction at the Maryen Lorrain Dance Studio, later renamed Reign Dance Productions, in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Miller has stated numerous times that as a teenager she realized her talents were better-suited for choreographing, teaching and directing. At 14, she founded a competitive company within her mother's studio known as the Abby Lee Dance Company (this has frequently been characterized as its own independent studio, however Miller was merely the director of a dance company within the studio). Maryen Lorrain Miller was a 50-year member with the Dance Masters of America, an organization that certifies and regulates instructors in various dance genres. Abby Lee Miller became a fully certified member of the Dance Masters of America Pennsylvania #10 since 1986,^[2] however in 2012 her membership was terminated through her chapter.^[3] The association released a statement in its Spring 2012 newsletter stating that it had turned away the 'Dance Moms' camera crew at its Orlando-based national convention, and that it did not endorse the content of the show. The letter read, in part: "DMA feels this is a total misrepresentation of our dance educators and their students and is detrimental to the dance profession... Quality dance education is very important to each of us and our students and our goal is to provide the best dance education in the most loving atmosphere." However, the letter did not explicitly state that Miller was dropped from the association because of the content of the television show.

Financial issues

In December 2010, Miller filed for bankruptcy and owed more than $400,000 in taxes.^[4]

Career in reality television

Miller began to appear in the 2011 Lifetime reality television show Dance Moms.^[5] The show is on its sixth season and has had 138 episodes so far.^[6] Dance Moms follows the practice sessions and performance competitions of young students of the Abby Lee Dance Company.

Three spin-offs of Dance Moms are Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition,^[7][8] which ran for 2 seasons and 22 episodes,^[9] Dance Moms: Miami, and Dance Moms: Abby's Studio Rescue. The latter ran for only 7 episodes.^[10] Miller has also been a guest judge on Dancing with the Stars.^[11][12] In 2014, Miller published a book, Everything I Learned about Life, I Learned in Dance Class.^[7]

In 2015, Miller opened a new studio set up in Los Angeles called ALDC LA. The cast of Dance Moms moved to LA and are currently filming there.^[13]

Legal issues

Miller began to encounter numerous legal issues in 2014. One of the dancers on Dance Moms sued Miller, charging assault. The suit further claims the show's producers encourage a violent and combative atmosphere on the show as a way to attract viewers.^[14] A five million dollar lawsuit was filed against Collins Avenue Entertainment for staging disagreements that ended in a fight between Kelly Hyland and Miller.^[15] Paige Hyland also filed an emotional distress lawsuit against Miller.^[16] The charges were dropped on the emotional distress lawsuit, because the judge sided with Miller, as Miller had done nothing emotionally damaging to the child beyond what is normal of high quality dance instructors.^[17]

On October 13, 2015, Miller was indicted for fraud for creating a secret bank account in 2012-2013 used to hide income from masterclasses, TV deals, and merchandise sales. She is indicted with bankruptcy fraud, concealment of bankruptcy assets and false bankruptcy declarations in hiding some $755,000.^[18][19] If found guilty she could face a fine of $250,000 for each of the 20 counts she was indicted on and five years in prison.^[20] She pleaded not guilty in November 2015.^[21] By February 2016, the case was delayed a fifth time.^[22] Miller reached a deal with the IRS criminal investigators to enter a guilty plea on June 27, 2016.^[23]

References

External links

• Abby Lee Miller (July 15, 2014). Everything I Learned about Life, I Learned in Dance Class. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-230481-0.