Chloe Lukasiak | Channel Guide Magazine

Exclusive “Dance Moms” party pics of Chloe, Christi, Clara, Nia, Holly and Paige!

June 14, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Dance Moms fans, lest you worry that it’s all work and stress and no play for our Pitt Crew ladies, big and small, we’ve got the adorable photos to prove otherwise! Courtesy of Dance Moms‘ own Christi Lukasiak, here are exclusive shots from Chloe’s and Nia’s joint birthday celebration last weekend, complete with Nia’s cuddly surprise gift, a peek at Kelly’s cute son Josh, precious pictures of Chloe’s little sister Clara — and a bonus Dance Moms Fashion Moment! The birthday girls: The birthday girls with Paige: “NIA GOT A DOG for her birthday! Big concession by Dr. [...]

“Dance Moms” recap: The More They Stay The Same

June 6, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Everybody remember where we left off in April? Maddie stumbled. Chloe soared. Abby bent over, let us see her shake her tail feathers — then hightailed it outta Jersey in shame. Everybody good? Before we begin, quick moment of silence for Hubby Rik who got his priorities goofed and is working right now instead of patrolling the Pitt Crew for swears and apologies. I guess he will just have to read the little missus’s recap to find out what happens, now won’t he? Or maybe I’ll wait up for him and act the whole thing out. • Missed the episode? [...]

“Dance Moms” star Christi Lukasiak talks Chloe, Joffrey and the show’s new season!

June 1, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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The last time I spoke with Dance Moms’ Christi Lukasiak, the show’s second season was soon to premiere — and Lukasiak was still trying to wrap her head around her near-overnight transition from devoted mom perpetually trapped in a tyrant’s dance studio to devoted mom perpetually trapped in a tyrant’s dance studio on TV’s most talked-about train wreck. My research entailed being an earnestly devoted viewer of the show. • Read Channel Guide‘s first interview with Christi Lukasiak Six months later, on the cusp of the season’s summer premiere, Lukasiak, her comrades in the parents loft at Pittsburgh’s Abby Lee Dance Company, and [...]

“Dance Moms” finale recap: Behind Barres

April 4, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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And so it ends … with another come-from-behind triumph for Chloe, a day of reckoning for Abby, an applause-worthy lecture from Dr. Holly and a ballet instructor who looks like Robert Goulet. But, it doesn’t end for long, since all-new eps will be back in June — and so will Abby despite her tearstained little hissy-pissy tonight. Mark my words. We ended last season — and several episodes this season — thinking Maddie and Mac might not be back, and there they were without a mention of The Troubles come the season 2 premiere. We may see Abby being fanned [...]

“Dance Moms” recap: There’s Just One Me In Team

March 28, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Does anyone else besides me remember how we were feeling when we reached the eleventh episode of Season 1? The Maddie-versus-Chloe showdown had reached a fever pitch, with the two duking it out onstage in a stunner of a Black Swan duet, battling for solo supremacy, and about to face off in the competition of their lives. No, not Nationals. Noooo, not for a spot in the Joffrey ballet school. Not even for the top of the all-hallowed pyramid. Nay, they were throwing down for a spot in a music video for a girl named Lux! Turns out we were talking [...]

“Dance Moms” recap part one: Ode To A Whole Bunch Of Clowns

March 21, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Oh fer the … First Lifetime takes away the next-day full-episode video on their own website and now it’s gone from iTunes and Amazon, too? And just when I was starting to enjoy being able to exchange the laptop for a bowl of popcorn (snackies AND missiles that can be launched at Abby without harming the flatscreen!) and call the play-by-play come morning at my desk. A fistful of greasy kernels in your general direction, Lifetime. You guys know my memory’s not that good. Cough up those shows. In any case, I’m guessing this one may have a laundry list of [...]

“Dance Moms” recap: Warts, Miami And All

March 14, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Or Dance Moms recap: The Pony, The Swim and A Jerk. Again with the decisions! Whatever you want to call it, this week’s episode begins with Abby blaming last week’s loss at Fire & Ice Elite on the girls, rather than the fact that they did her choreography flawlessly despite having to do it in their judge-mortifying, fan-dancin’ underpants. Which is everyone’s fault but the girls’ and that’s a fact. The pyramid is a complex affair with lots of qualifiers. Bottom of the bottom is Big Mac, who, says Abby, should act “bigger and longer.” A perfectly zen Mac looks like [...]

“Dance Moms” recap: Faux Weddings and a Funeral

February 29, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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Does this mean we can be done with shows about Jill now? That Kendall can dance, happily, supported, victorious and unhindered by her mother’s ego? That Nia can dance happily and supported, victorious and unpunished for her mother’s work-life balance? That this show can actually become an eensy-peensy bit about dance again instead of the low blows of high-heeled moms? I’m guessing no on all accounts, but a girl can dream. Because I want my old Dance Moms back. The ones who ultimately played yakky but reasonably harmless second fiddles to their joyfully dancing daughters. I want to believe that at least [...]

“Dance Moms” recap: Benched

February 22, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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First of all, let me say how thrilled I am to be wrong in saying last week that Paige would not be at the top of this week’s pyramid. Paige earned her spot, and Abby rightly gave it to her. Then let me say how not pleased I am to be right that she would be made to pay in some regard for winning last week’s competition, which we’ll get into more in a bit. Suffice it to say for now that Abby’s ferocious vitriol toward a wisp of a girl whom she knows has one nervous-wreck cell for every [...]

“Dance Moms” recap: She Cried With Her Boots On

February 15, 2012 | By Lori Acken
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We learned something right out of the gate, didn’t we, Dance Moms Nation?! We learned that the floors in Abby Lee’s studios cost a whopping $68,000. Thus, like the dancers upon them, they are precious and heels are not allowed. Naturally, Jill shows up in gray suede boots with not-allowed heels. It’s OK, she tells Abby Lee because she’s standing on her toes. Rules dribble off Jill like water off a duck, but Abby lets it slide for now, ‘cause she’s got stuff on her mind. Namely this week’s competition, which is Dance Explosion in Secaucus, NJ. It will be riddled [...]