Back to the Barre - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

Back to the Barre — TV & Film
Back to the Barre

Come see us LIVE on tour in 2026! www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

Head to social media to share your favorite moments from this episode.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backtothebarrepodcast

TikTok: tiktok.com/@backtothebarrepod

Watch full episodes of Back to the Barre on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@officialbacktothebarre

Send your questions to www.speakpipe.com/backtothebarre

Join our Patreon to access ad-free episodes of Back to the Barre. Members also receive exclusive audio and video content and more! Visit www.patreon.com/backtothebarre to join.

Rate, review and follow Back to the Barre on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart or wherever you like to listen.

OG Dance Moms Christi (https://www.instagram.com/christilukasiak or https://www.tiktok.com/@christilukasiak0) & Kelly (https://www.instagram.com/kellylhyland or https://www.tiktok.com/@hyland.kelly) take us back to the barre with this weekly podcast, recapping Dance Moms episodes and sharing never-before-heard behind the scenes stories.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © 2022

Latest Episodes:

A Plethora of Headbands Jul 11, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of “Back to the Barre,” Kelly and Christi discuss the girls learning the “Sugar Daddy” dance complete with its unruly props, while the mothers endure the humiliation of learning and performing a dance choreographed by Cathy. In between learning all the dances for the upcoming ALDC showcase, the girls also audition for a Broadway producer who is casting for the musical Annie. Christi gives some major backstory on the show when she explains that nearly half the clients in Abby’s studio left the summer before the show started, and Christi nearly did, too, as they were tired of Abby’s poor behavior. Shortly thereafter, though, Chloe was declared a national title holder, which meant she was forbidden from leaving her studio.

As usual, Abby’s words and behavior contradict each other. She wants the girls to come to her and look up to her, but then she bullies them and pushes them away when they show her affection. Again, the girls are shown to be crying over petty things when actually, in footage that’s never shown, they are being bullied by Abby. Abby continues to make Nia feel bad for Holly’s absence, while Holly graduates from her PhD program.

Find out which actor Kelly and Christi ran into while handing out flyers for the ALDC showcase, Kelly’s favorite dance that the girls did, and when Christi knew the show had become a hit.

Quotes

“The bullying is so apparent when you watch the show back. I saw it but I didn’t realize it.” (20:04-20:11 | Christi)

“This is when I flip out and say ‘No one wants to see a bunch of fatass old moms on stage.’ I stand by that.” (30:03-30:10 | Christi)

“Abby says she can’t be in the dance because of insurance. OK. I’m thinking maybe it was the video we saw of the purple leotard. I don’t think it was insurance reasons.” (55:37-55:46 | Kelly)

“The gif of us toasting- I see this gif all the time. I promise you if you go on your phone and you put in ‘Dance Moms’ for gifs, this gif will come up. This gif is everywhere.” (36:37-36:50 | Christi)

“People don’t realize how stressful it was for all of those kids. Brooke being injured, then McKenzie having a stomachache and Vivi saying her head hurts. It’s because they’re under so much stress. People just don’t understand what kind of stress those kids are under.” (52:00-52:17 | Kelly)

Links

Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w

Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/backtothebarre

Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiak

Follow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We Need Therapy Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

“This is the least funny we’ve been, this is the least fun we’ve had, because this episode is hard to do,” Christi admits on the latest episode of Back to the Barre. The fourth episode of Dance Moms planted the seeds of years of misunderstanding. Here Christi and Kelly reveal behind-the-scenes elements of the story that reveal that the two were not, as many fans accused, crazy and jealous of the other children. They were simply demanding fairness for their daughters, both from Abby and the other mothers, and in the way their girls were being portrayed on the show. Both Cathy and Melissa demand and receive special treatment, with Cathy refusing to lend the kind of support and camaraderie she receives from the other mothers. Melissa makes sure that Maddie gets plenty of extra time to rehearse and attention from Abby despite performing a dance she already knows. This means that the other girls only have hours before a competition to learn their routines and get comfortable with their music. This results in Paige freezing and running off stage mid-performance. More infuriatingly, Cathy accuses the other mothers of ostracizing her, and Melissa accuses Christi of being willing to do anything for her daughter to win.

Kelly plays a clip of the Lady Gaga song that Paige rehearsed to for months, and compares it to a clip of the song that Paige had to dance to in competition. Not only did the song have different beats, but none of the lyrics that informed major parts of the choreography were there. Christi explains the complicated history behind the infamous fight with Melissa. In later episodes, Kelly pulled Paige out of solos to spare her further humiliation, thus making her look demanding and petulant. This is the debut of Abby’s increasingly gaudy plastic jewelry, and Melissa’s acid washed floral jeans. Christi continues to regret the harsh overhead lighting they film under. While this episode is hard to bear, there are still plenty of lighthearted moments, as usual.

Learn what the Moms were watching on their phones while waiting to go into the competition, what McKenzie said in an interview that made Melissa so mad, and the origins of putting your arms above your head and holding your breath when going under a bridge.

Quotes

“A lot of the dances were like, ‘Fuck your mother.’” (25:11-25:14 | Christi)

“It’s not jealousy, it’s the inequity, or inequality of it. And we’re like, ‘OK, if this is the case, then fine, but don’t make it out like we’re crazy, because we’re not.’” (26:24-26:35 | Christi)

“I love when people would always show up at the studio after the show premiered and they’d come in and say, ‘Oh! It’s smaller and dirtier than I thought it might be.’” (28:21-28:28 | Christi)

“Did I want my daughter to win? Of course! We all wanted our kids to win. But I would look at those girls and think, why would I take away a chance for them? Chloe doesn’t need two.”(36:36-36:46 | Christi)

“And this is my problem throughout the whole show is that we had to do things knowing that our kids were being set up. I sent my ten-year-old out there knowing that this was going to happen in front of millions of people on a television show, and there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it.”(1:07:27-1:07:49 | Kelly)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve from Wine Fest Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

“This is going to turn into a big fun party,” Christi says as she and Kelly marvel at how many people are enthusiastically embracing Back to the Barre, rediscovering their hit show ‘Dance Moms,’ and telling the two how much they’ve enjoyed hearing from them all these years later. The party continues as they review Episode Three of “Dance Moms” over drinks. In this episode, Abby is teaching the girls an acrobatics routine, and it’s Vivi’s turn to receive special attention from Abby. Abby and Kelly’s long and complicated history starts to surface and Abby tells Kelly’s children Brooke and Paige to not waste their lives like their mother. Christi and Kelly drink every time Abby appears in another one of her infamous headbands.

Throughout the podcast, Kelly and Christi continue to set the record straight about long-standing fan questions and criticisms. They address why they didn’t schedule more privates, why they were late, the good reason for Brooke looking so miserable, and continue to critique each other’s old fashion moments. As reality show veterans now, they are able to put themselves in the minds of producers, and guess what random moments, like apple sauce exploding in a lunchbox, may have meant in terms of storyline (a foreshadowing of drama at Candy Apple Studios). This was the episode of Dance Moms where they all started to realize truly what they had signed up for.

On this episode of Back to the Barre, the friends discuss Cathy’s nosiness, their thoughts on kids being kept in kennels, and what Christi considers the best line uttered in the history of reality TV.

Quotes

“It’s like we alternate weeks of who’s going to be tortured, me or you. Last week it was you, this week it’s me.” (4:54-5:01 | Kelly)

“The lighting on me in that room is so good! It’s good lighting! Our lighting was always such shit and you could see into our pores! No wonder the Kardashians bring their own ring lights everywhere.” (12:13-12:34 | Christi)

“When you’re on a reality show, you could be thinking something in your head and the audience never knows. So, you have to say it out loud so that they know what the storyline is.” (23:12-23:24 | Christi)

“Abby has nothing to go home to! So how did I settle? I have a husband and a family to go home to and what does she have? When everybody leaves the studio, what does she have to go home to? She had her dog.” (28:03-28:16 | Kelly)

“Why does Cathy want to know about our husbands? She doesn’t even know anything about us!” (32:42-32:46 | Kelly)

“Everyone would say, ‘If you don’t like it, why don’t you get more privates?’ We tried! We couldn’t get them because Melissa was the one scheduling them.”(34:47-34:56 | Christi)

“Again, first three episodes, I don’t know why anyone would like me, because so far, I’ve just been a nasty bitch the whole time.”(40:07-40:12 | Christi)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kelly's Banana Clip Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

Best friends Christi and Kelly are back to discuss episode two of their hit series ‘Dance Moms,’ where the daughters head to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to perform their “Electricity” number. The moms are as concerned as ever about the age-appropriateness of their daughters’ dance moves and outfits, especially in religiously-conservative Lancaster, PA. Abby is overstepping her bounds and confusing her role as dance teacher with a role as parent.

Though Kelly and Christi are the only two to be seen complaining about it, there is resentment among all the moms about the special praise and attention lavished on Maddie, and the pressure it puts on the other girls. Sewing the girls’ costumes before competitions was a job–and a source of drama– unto itself.

Tune into this week’s episode to hear about the debut of Abby’s infamous flip flip tee-shirt, and the exclusive stories that never made it to air, like what Cathy threw at Christi, and why Abby called Kelly white trash.

Quotes

“All the little girls who were our kids' age are now watching as young adults and they all like us moms now. Whereas Before, they only liked the kids..” (5:03-5:10- Christi)

“Abby says we as moms live through our kids and that we shouldn’t go to the competitions. And the kids should do what she says, not what their mom says. Who tells a kid that?”(13:55-14:11 | Kelly)

“Abby says that when kids from other studios come to her studio, no one knows terminology and I do agree with that. She definitely taught terminology.” (46:39-46:50 | Kelly)

“That is legit. Abby used to do it on Sunday nights when there were no cameras around, and we would be coming home and all of us would be on the bus ready to kill ourselves, and she would be screaming at the bus driver for going in the wrong direction.”(1:03:10-1:03:20 | Christi)

“It was only episode two and Abby already wanted us gone.” (1:15:28-1:15:31- | Kelly)

Links

Follow Christi on IG: www.instragram.com/christilukasiak

Follow Kelly on IG: www.instagram.com/kellylhyland

Subscribe to our Patreon for access to our After party episodes:: www.patreon.com/backtothebarre

Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50aSBAYXH_9yU2YkKyXZ0w

Thank you to Ashley Jana for allowing us to use Electricity!! Follow her on IG HERE: https://instagram.com/ashleyjanamusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Download Electricity HERE: https://music.apple.com/us/album/electricity/1497482509?i=1497482510

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just the Two Bitches Are Left Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

“People always wanted to see more of us,” says Christi Lukasiak, one of the breakout stars on Lifetime’s long-running hit reality dance show “Dance Moms.” Eleven years after the show’s 2011 debut, she and Kelly Hyland, best friends and fan-favorite duo, are giving the people what they want by reacting to the show’s pilot episode “The Competition Begins.” With glasses of wine in hand, they relive the show’s most famous scenes, offer insider memories and trivia, and fill in what was often the chasm between reality and reality TV.

While the audience watched their young daughters master and perform intricate choreography as members of Abby Lee Miller’s dance studio in Pittsburgh, Christi and Kelly, along with the other moms on the show, were subject to their own choreography of sorts behind the scenes. As normal suburban moms, they were unprepared for how much of the show was fabricated and subject to multiple takes, how differently they and their children would be portrayed on TV, and how much criticism they would receive from viewers for the silliest things.

On this episode of Back to the Barre, Christi and Kelly set the record straight, address longrunning questions they’ve received from fans over the years, and decide which, if any, of their outfits they would ever wear again.

Quotes

“The thing that I think is the most fun, or the part that’s really interesting is that we lived it. So there’s so much that we can talk about that people never saw.” (2:30-2:40 | Christi)

“I do think that’s one of the reasons why the show was really successful, because it wasn’t in New York or L.A. We were just normal Pittsburgh people.” (11:08-11:18 | Christi)

“What people don’t realize is when we were in pyramid, it’s three seconds on the show, but it took us hours and hours to film.” (15:26-15:36 | Kelly)

“It was just to humiliate us. She just needed a reason to humiliate us.”(19:23-19:27 | Kelly)

“That was our first big red flag of editing mistakes. Where did that come from? That wasn’t there when we were filming.” (23:48-23:56 | Christi and Kelly)

“And that was my first real ‘Holy shit. People are going to hate us for stupid reasons’ moment.” (30:24-30:30 | Christi)

“That’s what they always did and it made Paige look like a crybaby. Meanwhile she was tortured….But they don’t show that.” (40:17-40:29 | Kelly)

“When I talk to people they say, ‘Oh, Abby was so mean.’ I’m thinking to myself, ‘Are you kidding me?! You think she’s that mean and they only showed ten minutes of it?” 40:35-40:47 | Kelly)

“That’s what was so hard a lot of the time for me–the way she treated my kids. She was like my family. Her mom and her would come to Paige and Brooke’s baptisms and communions and things. And then you treat them like that and not care about their feelings.” (43:33-43:52 | Kelly)

“I always thought Brooke had an unfair edit because I think that Brooke is way more fun than they ever showed her to be. And she was always the most caring. She always took care of those kids, and they just showed her as the miserable little bitch.” (46:34:46:47 | Christi and Kelly)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Related Podcasts