Living on the Dance Floor: World Renowned Dance Teacher, TV Superstar Abby Lee Miller Visits Area
Danika Buckingham pictured with Abby Lee Miller during the meet and greet event of the ‘Abby Lee Spills The Tea’ tour stop at Levant Wesleyan Church, hosted by the Xplosion AllStars, recently. Photo submitted by Denise Buckingham.
Abby Lee instructs dancers at the dance workshop held at Levant Wesleyan Church Gymnasium. Photo submitted by Denise Buckingham.
Abby Lee addresses a packed crowd at the Levant Wesleyan Church Gymnasium. Photo submitted by Samantha Robinson
Samantha Robinson, owner of Xplosion Cheer, poses with Abby Lee Miller during a meet and greet event. Photo submitted by Samantha Robinson
Danika Buckingham pictured with Abby Lee Miller during the meet and greet event of the ‘Abby Lee Spills The Tea’ tour stop at Levant Wesleyan Church, hosted by the Xplosion AllStars, recently. Photo submitted by Denise Buckingham.
Abby Lee instructs dancers at the dance workshop held at Levant Wesleyan Church Gymnasium. Photo submitted by Denise Buckingham.
Abby Lee addresses a packed crowd at the Levant Wesleyan Church Gymnasium. Photo submitted by Samantha Robinson
Samantha Robinson, owner of Xplosion Cheer, poses with Abby Lee Miller during a meet and greet event. Photo submitted by Samantha Robinson
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Something that many dancers across the world would consider a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' took place right here in Jamestown last week. A moment many local dancers will hold with them for the rest of their lives.
American dance choreographer and television personality, Abby Lee Miller, most famously recognized for her star role in the reality TV series 'Dance Moms' brought her 'Abby Lee spills the tea' tour to Jamestown.
She was accompanied by Cassandra Kubinski, an American songwriter with nine songs featured in the 'Dance Moms' show, who connected with Samantha Robinson, owner of Xplosion AllStars. That connection would create something many dancers in the area might never have had the chance to do.
"I got an email from Cassandra. She was Abby’s recording artist for her music that she wrote on the show," Robinson explained.
"They initially wanted to use my gym. I said, unfortunately, we don’t have enough space for everything that they wanted to do. So then they asked if I would still host it, but find some location that they could still do it at. And so we ended up finding Levant Church, thankfully, because it’s only been two weeks since she (Kubinski) asked me."
Robinson owns a gymnasium on Falconer-Frewsburg road in Jamestown. She offers an array of services to her dancers including competition cheerleading, cheer technique classes, tumbling, performance teams, just to name a few.
Although she noted her facilities couldn't accommodate what Abby Lee Miller wanted to do, she knew she couldn't turn this opportunity down. After having discussions with her coaches, staff, as well as other studios throughout the area, it seemed that a bigger venue was the right call due to the demand of the event.
"We ended up having over 100 people for the dance session specifically," Robinson stated. "Then they ended up doing the 'spill the tea' part, which is the second half, which brought another 30 people. We had people all the way from the Olean area to the Fredonia area here at the event."
Robinson also discussed with The Post-Journal a little more about what Abby Lee Miller's main takeaways were for the dancers throughout the event.
"So a lot of times we don’t think about conditioning, whether it’s dance or cheer or anything of that nature" she explained. "You do hear about it when you are talking about football and those types of sports. But she was talking about how they just condition one day a week for an hour. So that was nice to hear that other people do it, and also for them (the dancers) to hear that because sometimes kids don’t think that you’re telling the truth."
Danika Buckingham, 13, a dancer with Tiffany Wakeley Academy of Dance and a fan of Abby Lee Miller since her first days of dance, was elated to be able to meet someone she considers her idol.
"I have been following Abby Lee since I was six and started watching her on YouTube videos," Danika said. "It was inspiring because you don’t get to meet celebrities on a daily basis and it was a big deal for me."
Her mom, Deniese Buckingham, surprised her with tickets to the event.
"I was shocked," when asked how she was able to get tickets.
"In all honesty tears came to my eyes that I was able to provide this experience for Danika ... The best thing while watching the event was seeing the joy and excitement Danika had meeting Abbie Lee and listening to the feedback Abby Lee gave the kids. They all wanted to absorb the information Abby Lee was providing them."
One thing that Miller struck on with everyone in attendance is that no matter where in life you go, to remember how you got there.
"It was an amazing experience learning new techniques and most importantly the mindset and attitude a dancer needs to be successful in whatever path they choose whether professionally or for the love and passion of dancing," Deneise Buckingham explained.
Miller will continue her nationwide tour through the end of November, according to her social media pages, with additional stops planned for Florida, Louisiana, and New York City.