Coach Glo Explains How ‘Dance Moms: A New Era’ Differs From Original Series

When Lifetime first aired its new reality show Dance Moms 13 years ago, it was hard to look away. The ultimate “stage moms” now coined “dance moms” were hilarious, ridiculous, and at times vicious. It was hard to believe dance coach Abby Lee Miller was even a real person, with her extreme and sometimes brutal methods of teaching. And the girls, ranging from ages 6 to 13 (now all grown up as we saw in the reunion a few months ago) were adorable and undeniably talented.

Dance Moms eventually finished its eight-season run in 2019. Now, Hulu is bringing the craziness back. Dance Moms: A New Era will be focused around Studio Bleu, a consistent rival of the Abby Lee Dance Company. Coach Gloria Hampton (previously a dance mom herself, featured in Season 3) is taking on the competition season with a new junior elite team, new moms, and big expectations.

Coach Glo spoke with TV Insider about the evolution of the dance world, how she compares her teaching styles to Abby Lee Miller’s, and why fans of the original should give the new series a shot.

How were you first approached with the idea to reboot the series?  

Gloria Hampton: There was a casting process, and they were reaching out to studios as well. But they did just put it out on social media. It seemed like the next logical step in my teaching experience. I’ve been doing this for so long, I’m like, let’s show the world what I can do. Never in a million years did I really think it was going to end up being me. I’m super grateful. But I just never really expected it, to be completely honest with you. 

Was there any hesitation from you or the moms about doing it?  

Of course there was, because there’s some negativity around the original series. But I think that if you go back and ask all those original girls, all of them are very aware of where they came from, are grateful for the experience, and I think would do it again. They’re all wildly successful and amazing young women. I want to be able to do this for another generation. I do want to make sure that I’m guiding them with love and care. 

How is your series different from the original series with Abby Lee Miller?  

Well, Dance Moms: A New Era is a new era, of course. I teach differently—I think all teachers do. I want my students to speak their minds. I want them to give input, I want them to be vocal. They’re hardworking kids, and I do demand a lot of them. I’m a tough teacher. But I also teach from a place of love, kindness, and respect, and I want them to know that. And whatever I do, whatever method I use is for their own personal growth and to help them achieve the results they’re looking for.

Since the original series started over 10 years ago, how do you think the dance world has evolved over the years? You get famous in the dance world by dancing, but now there’s also the social media part of it, right?  

It’s interesting. I’ve had so many people tell me they go to auditions, and it’s just about how many followers you have. I still believe in hard work and training. I think that’s so, so important. But the dance world has evolved immensely. These kids are doing crazier things every single day. But the history and the art of the technique, the terminology and the foundation of all that, I think that’s so, so important, and I want to keep that alive in the dance world.

What is your approach to dealing with a dance mom who may be voicing opinions and causing drama? 

I mean, typically, I leave them to deal with each other as much as possible. When it comes to interfering with what I’m doing, I tell them they have to trust me. I’m the one with the expertise. They don’t go into the doctor’s office and tell them how to perform their exam, right? I raised a professional dancer, so I’m like, trust me when I tell you I know what I’m doing. They want to speak their mind because they always think their kid is the best, but at the same time, I think they do respect that I know my job and that I’m very good at it. 

In the first episode, there’s a very quick scene of you having tryouts. What is your process of picking dancers for the team?  

There are kids that are clearly stronger dancers and weaker dancers on the team, but everybody brings their thing. Some are younger, so obviously they’re just not there yet. But I see that potential. Some have this amazing personality. My job is to bring that all together and make it work together. They’re all amazing in their own right. I just have to showcase each person’s strengths. 

Every episode of Dance Moms is very formulaic—they do pyramid, learn the dances in a few days, and then go to the competition. Did you have a say on how your show was structured?  

The structure of Dance Moms is obviously still there. The pyramid—which, to be honest, I wasn’t crazy about to start with—does give you a very clear indication of what we’re coming off of and how things stacked up the week before. It’s not a punishment, it’s an incentive for the kids to work harder because when they do see themselves move up, it’s exciting for them.  

The pyramid is such an iconic thing. Do you feel like you have to make sure you’re not being too negative towards the girls to keep them motivated?  

I will always be honest with my students. The one thing I’ve always tried to do when they come offstage is say, “Great job.” There’s time for critiques and criticism back at the studio. When it comes to pyramid, that does come into play at that point because we have to decide who’s dancing, who’s leading dances, who’s doing solos the next week. The parents can complain all they want, but the kids know the moment they walk off that stage if they nailed that routine, or if they made the corrections they were supposed to.  

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You’ve worked with most of the girls since they were little, right? 

I’ve had most of them since they were tiny. There are a couple of newer ones to the studio, but I still work very closely with all of them.  

Have you picked up on if there’s a certain recipe you need for a winning dance? Before they get up on stage, are you like, “Okay, everything’s lined up perfectly for this to work”? 

Sometimes I can tell. We really challenged ourselves and the kids with some hard routines. Sometimes they would go on and we’d be holding our breath. And I will tell you, the one that we were most concerned about, we ended up all crying by the end of it because it just turned out so well and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. I do know when I feel comfortable but given the time span that we have to rehearse these routines, I’m never going to feel as comfortable as I want to. It’s a much quicker process than doing a regular dance competition. 

I don’t know how you guys pull it off.  

It’s not easy. I give mad props to everyone doing it for eight seasons before because it is not for the faint of heart. 

And just that first dance competition, the first episode, you guys already have this crazy concept of them breaking through a fake glass bubble right off the bat.  

Right off the bat. And I think going into that and thinking, “We have days, we have them all day long, we’ll get this,” you know, it doesn’t work that way, especially because we don’t always necessarily have the prop for the entire rehearsal time. There’s a lot more that goes into it that you don’t see. So that becomes a little tricky.  

Is there anything more you can say about what we should expect for the season?  

There are people who are going to firmly support the original series, and I support the original series. I loved it. But I think that everyone will enjoy this. It might be different, and different isn’t always a bad thing. I just hope that everybody tunes in and watches and you’re going to see a bunch of amazing dancing and a bunch of lovely, fabulous little girls. 

Dance Moms: A New Era, Season 1, Hulu