Featured Image Credit: Instagram/ChloeLukasiak
Topics: Dance Moms, Entertainment
Marissa Dow
Anyone who watched just one episode of Dance Moms knows that Abby Lee’s dancers were God’s strongest (and tiniest) soldiers. Now, more than 10 years after the show’s crash landing into popular culture, the original cast is finally meeting up for a reunion we’ve been waiting for longer than Abby Lee’s prison sentence. Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for the cast, the infamous dance coach in question won’t be there to rank her all grown-up mentees on one of her iconic/demonic pyramids. Seriously, I cannot imagine anything more traumatic than my middle school musical director giving us daily performance grades after each Phantom of the Opera rehearsal in front of everyone, and not just because I know I would have never reached the top (but mostly). Until we can get all the juicy updates directly from the girls during the May 1 reunion special later this week, here’s what we know about what the Dance Moms cast is today.
While no one’s in the dark about what Jojo Siwa’s up to lately because she literally won’t stop talking about it, it’ll be nice to see the other ALDC ladies’ reactions to Jojo’s recent transformation into a ponytail-less queen of “gay pop.” The “Karma” singer is now single after Jojo’s big break-up with Avery Cyrus and no longer living with her momager/dadager parents in a home where she paid the mortgage.
As the resident top block of the Abby Lee Dance Company weekly pyramid, it’s only fitting that Maddie was one of the first to break out big from the show with a memorable feature in Sia’s “Chandelier” and hasn’t stopped since. Maddie continued her dance career as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance and hasn’t broken into acting with starring roles in West Side Story (2021) and Fitting In. She and her sister Kenzie did not attend the reunion.
It feels wild that Mackenzie is almost out of her teens now, considering she was only six years old when we first saw her on Dance Moms (crazy how time literally passes, no?). Kenzie followed in her older sister Maddie’s footsteps by dancing on primetime TV during a stint on your grandma’s favorite evening program, The Masked Dancer. The younger Zeigler’s career has mostly focused on music though with her album Phases in 2018 and a few singles including a collab with Sia called “Exhale.”
Chloe has taken a more chill path after her trailblazing exit as the first OG to quit the ALDC, despite her weekly success as Maddie’s biggest rival. In addition to vlogging her experience as a college student at Pepperdine, Chloe has taken up poetry, which she shares on her artist Instagram, @chloelukasiakwrites. Can she ever top the poetic words of her mother Christi, “Abby you’re a bitch… I said you’re a witch?” Extremely doubtful, but keep trying Chlo.
Paige is the youngest of the two Hyland girls starring on the show, three if you count Kelly, which I obviously do. When her mom wasn’t busy berating Abby backstage, Paige was one of many trying to find her way out of Maddie’s shadow. Since her departure from Dance Moms Paige attended West Virginia University and keeps up with fans on TikTok. She also keeps up with Nia and Chloe who helped her celebrate her recent 23rd birthday.
Brooke was the eldest of the show’s other set of OG sisters and was already a teenager by the time some of the mini-prodigies were just getting their pointe shoes fitted. After leaving the show, Brooke graduated from college, briefly dabbled in music (we need to talk about the Dance Moms to pop star pipeline), and started a popular food Instagram.
While criminally under-appreciated during her time under Abby Lee’s watch, Nia has been thriving post-Dance Moms. She has landed a number of impressive acting guest spots including a cameo in the 2024 Mean Girls remake and even interviewed VP Kamala Harris. Nia also made her directorial debut, leading a mental health campaign called “Seize the Awkward,” featuring her fellow ALDC alum, Kenzie. Nia hosts a podcast with Teala Dunn entitled “Adulting with Teala & Nia” if you want to hear about her life nowadays since she won’t be appearing at the reunion.
Since Dance Moms ended, our little Kendall (surprise, surprise) briefly took to pop music as an artistic outlet, releasing several singles under the stage name Kendall K. “Wear Em Out” is very much a banger, though, don’t get me wrong. Kendall continues to dance, recently winning another National Dance Championships as a collegiate participant which Abby Lee congratulated her for. How sweet.
Kalani (whose name I can tragically only hear in Abby’s perpetual outdoor voice) has also kept the dance fever alive for her fans on her Instagram and Youtube pages. She and her mom Kira will be at the upcoming reunion, but made time to catch up with Abby Lee last week, and naturally made a TikTok out of it. She also has a skin care and wellness line called Kare, if you’re looking for skin care tips from a youth with no wrinkles.