The popular show “Dance Moms” premiered on the Lifetime channel for its third season Jan. 1.

The first episode of the new season was an hour and a half long and just like the past seasons the show featured a girls dance team that practices and competes with the Abby Lee Dance Company in Pennsylvania. Every episode they practice and travel to compete in an endless amount of competitions.

This season, though, there were changes made to the cast and routines. Two of the main dancers on the team, Paige and Brooke, did not return to dance at Abby Lee’s studio.

So the premiere episode featured auditions for new dancers to be added to the team and a competition they had in Denver which was the dancers’ first competition since taking a break after their national win.

Every episode starts with the grouping of the girls in a pyramid based on their performance, but this season begged to be different. Abby disregarded the pyramid and awarded solos and performances based on attendance at practices.

As a dance teacher, Abby Lee Miller started her dance studio when she was 14 years old and has taught more than 3,000 pupils, many of whom have gone on to turn their dancing into a career.

Her students have been on Broadway and even performed at the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” show; not to mention that her students have won a huge number of competitions. One thing that is surprising about Miller, though, is her confession that she doesn’t like to be onstage and perform.

With fierce, and feisty dance moms ready to defend their daughters at the snap of a finger and Miller’s rude and blunt comments about how ungrateful they are and how bad their kid’s dancing is, there is bound to make for good television.  The show’s popularity has led to other spin offs as well.

Previews of the episodes for this upcoming third season, promise to be filled with more fights between Miller and the moms and even among the moms themselves then viewers have ever seen before. One episode in this upcoming season they even call the cops.

Although the Lifetime show “Dance Moms” does involve a lot of finger pointing, tears, yelling and harsh words it involves a lot of dancing.

If you enjoy verbal, and sometime physical, smack downs while at the same time watching elegant dancing, check out “Dance Moms” this season.

By: Christine Juhas