I have two sons. My sister has two girls. She gets to
experience the thrill of 3 hour baseball games through me and I get to go to
dance recitals.
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| Christie and Daughter Chloe |
Throughout the past summer, every time I was with my 12
year-old niece Amber, I would hear about Dance Moms. I wouldn’t just hear about
the people on the show or how great it was but the geographic location of the
girls in the show as well. Thank you Twitter. For instance, we went to see the Radio
City Christmas Show in November. Did you know that two of the dancers were
in NYC the day before? Very important information for a tween Dance
Mom fan whose eyes were the on the lookout for them amidst the hundreds of people
on the sidewalks of NYC perchance they hadn’t left yet.
Luckily some of the cast was in the area, over the border in
New York , and I was able to
purchase tickets and surprise her on Christmas that we would be going to see
Christie and Chloe. I asked her if she like those girls and how good they were.
Having never seen Dance Moms, (but having watched many a Little League World
Series), she politely told me that Christie was the mom. Then she went on to
explain who the best dancers were and who got solos and all this other stuff
that I know not what she spoke..
My niece could not contain her excitement. I think she
barely slept, between Christmas when I told her and the weekend following it
that they were scheduled to be at the hotel in Westchester ,
NY
My husband drove us, and he ended up sitting in the lobby of
the hotel outside with all the Dance Dads - I don’t know, is that what you call
them?
Amber and I were greeted by the event planner when we
checked in, who noted to Amber that she had an awesome aunt for bringing her. J
Then we went into the main meeting room, which was arranged
theater-style, with a podium upfront and glass windows on the wall behind. It
overlooked a very green winter scene. There was seating for about 400, I would
say, and Amber and I took a seat in the fifth row, which was the row behind the
VIP section. Our view was excellent.
I did not know what to expect, as I think this kind of Meet
and Greet is a new phenomena and I had never been to a meet and greet for dancers
in a reality show before. It was a great idea for the fans, especially compared
to waiting on a line for some mall appearance. (I had several frantic texts to
me a week earlier when my same niece was online to see Bethany
and they told her all the wristbands had been given out). This kind of
organized event makes the fans happy and makes money for the cast as well. I
was thinking though, how great it would have been to have something like this
when I was young. What I would have paid to have been in the same room with
Marcia Brady.
There was one guy and one dad in the room. Everyone else was
a 4-14 year old girl with a phone in her
hand. I think all the seats were filled, and it was a Sunday morning the
weekend before New Year’s.
A hush came over the crowd when it was announced the
Christie would be coming in. She talked for a little while and explained how
the session would work and what behavior was expected of the crowd. She also
added how her daughter did not want to wear what she had suggested, so she
would be coming in jeans. Nice way to relate to the crowd, there Mom.
The look of anticipation on the girls when she announced
that Chloe would be coming in was precious. I have never seen such a group of
more-well behaved girls, tweens and teens.
Perky and fresh-looking in her sweater and jeans, Chloe
talked for a while. Then she opened the floor to questions. She made sure she
went all around the room, and when she seemed to favor one area, her mom told
her to go to the other side.
The questions ranged from the simple to the complex (see
article for lots and lots of facts on Chloe). Chloe gave excellent answers to
all of them. When she did not know the answer she looked at her mom, and
sometimes while she was answering other I could see mom giving her the yay or
nay on what she was saying. One of the attendees asked her to do a turn and she
obliged, I thought that was great.
I have to say that this Meet and Greet was a lot of work for
this young girl. For someone who may or may not have had professional media
training or any acting classes, she knew her answers and was pelted with
questions, answering all of them cordially, for almost an hour.
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| Amber takes a photo of Chloe as she walks around the room |
We had sat on the end chairs (always a good thing to do) and
my niece was estatic that she got to ask Chloe a question and also get a
picture with her. Not that Christi did nor possibly could have taken a photo
with everyone in the room, but the selfies were flying as the girls angled to
get themselves and Chloe in the frame as she passed by them.
I think that there was nothing else left to ask when the
session was over,
and all of the girls got their fill for the time being. I now know all about the life of Chloe.
and all of the girls got their fill for the time being. I now know all about the life of Chloe.
Now, there was a VIP
session that happened after, which was a little more expensive, but the regular
$40 admission got my niece all that she had
dreamed for. I heard the VIP ’s got
personal photos with her.
On the way out, we bought a a bunch of raffle tickets for a
basket of DM signed items and other stuff. There were also other DM signature
items available for purchase.
On the way home, my husband mentioned how he had seen them
leave the meeting room.
My niece, still in a dance mom trance, asked if they were
talking to anyone..
He replied, “Well, they were walking out, and people were
saying hello to them.” He continued, “One person said ‘Merry Christmas to them’
Amber, and guess what I heard her say?”, he said.
“What?” asked Amber?
She said “What are they wishing me a Merry Christmas for.
Christmas is over”.
As poor little Amber did not want to believe what he just
said, I realized what a good job Lifetime had done on casting.
If you have the
money, a Meet and Greet with Chloe and Christie will satisfy all of your little
fan’s cravings.
Note: I spent New Year’s Day binge-watching the show. This post written by Suzanne Ordas Curry