You taught me how dance moms
‘Dance Moms’ Cast Post-Show Comments About Abby Lee Miller
No longer on top of the pyramid. Abby Lee Miller had a reputation for turning her students into stars on Dance Moms, but many of her former costars regret what they had to go through in order to succeed.
“I had more stress [on the show] than I did once I left. I have dissociated so much from that time,” Maddie Ziegler, who starred on the Lifetime reality TV show from 2011 until 2016, told Cosmopolitan in June 2022. “It’s weird because there were really amazing times, but there were also a lot of things that were really, really not great for us kids.”
The West Side Story actress added that it took a while for her to stop tying her self-worth to winning dance competitions. “My dance teacher taught that if you don’t get the trophy, if you don’t get the crown, you are less than, which is the worst way to train a kid. It carries into other life lessons. We also weren’t allowed to watch our competitors or be friends with them. I’ve had to unlearn a lot of those things,” she explained.
She continued: “I did watch a little bit of an episode from the very beginning to show my boyfriend [Eddie Benjamin] … And we both were like, ‘This is sad. We need to turn this off.'”
Miller fired back at Ziegler’s claims the following day, claiming that the former So You Think You Can Dance judge felt “at home” at her studio. “I was fighting for everything, for these kids to be the best that they could be on television,” the dance teacher said in the video, adding that she was responsible for all of Ziegler’s success. “I know that what I did for Maddie, with Maddie, helped her succeed.”
While Miller has defended her controversial teaching methods, often pointing to the Abby Lee Dance Company alums who have become professional dancers, others have alleged that she did more harm than good.
In October 2014, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of former student Paige Hyland (who was then 13 years old) which claimed that she suffered emotional abuse during her time at the ALDC.
The suit also alleged that Miller pinched students until they bled and “insulted and abused Paige on an almost daily basis, including cruel name calling, insults about Paige’s physical appearance and making offensive false and defamatory accusation [sic] about Paige’s family.” The suit was dismissed in July 2015.
When Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke stepped in for Miller on season 8 of Dance Moms, she claimed that the girls were “traumatized” from their experiences working with their former teacher. “The girls are so precious, and I feel like they are traumatized from what has happened with Abby, and it’s important for me to still be strict and do what I do,” the ballroom dancer told Us Weekly in May 2017. “I expect nothing but the best from the girls, but it’s also important for me to make them feel confident about themselves because they are all beautiful and talented.”
Keep scrolling to see everything the Dance Moms cast has said about Miller over the years:
No longer on top of the pyramid.
Abby Lee Miller had a reputation for turning her students into stars on Dance Moms, but many of her former costars regret what they had to go through in order to succeed.
"I had more stress [on the show] than I did once I left. I have dissociated so much from that time," Maddie Ziegler, who starred on the Lifetime reality TV show from 2011 until 2016, told Cosmopolitan in June 2022. "It’s weird because there were really amazing times, but there were also a lot of things that were really, really not great for us kids."
The West Side Story actress added that it took a while for her to stop tying her self-worth to winning dance competitions. "My dance teacher taught that if you don’t get the trophy, if you don’t get the crown, you are less than, which is the worst way to train a kid. It carries into other life lessons. We also weren’t allowed to watch our competitors or be friends with them. I’ve had to unlearn a lot of those things," she explained.
She continued: "I did watch a little bit of an episode from the very beginning to show my boyfriend [Eddie Benjamin] ... And we both were like, 'This is sad. We need to turn this off.'"
Miller fired back at Ziegler's claims the following day, claiming that the former So You Think You Can Dance judge felt "at home" at her studio. "I was fighting for everything, for these kids to be the best that they could be on television," the dance teacher said in the video, adding that she was responsible for all of Ziegler's success. "I know that what I did for Maddie, with Maddie, helped her succeed."
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While Miller has defended her controversial teaching methods, often pointing to the Abby Lee Dance Company alums who have become professional dancers, others have alleged that she did more harm than good.
In October 2014, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of former student Paige Hyland (who was then 13 years old) which claimed that she suffered emotional abuse during her time at the ALDC.
The suit also alleged that Miller pinched students until they bled and “insulted and abused Paige on an almost daily basis, including cruel name calling, insults about Paige’s physical appearance and making offensive false and defamatory accusation [sic] about Paige’s family." The suit was dismissed in July 2015.
When Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke stepped in for Miller on season 8 of Dance Moms, she claimed that the girls were "traumatized" from their experiences working with their former teacher. "The girls are so precious, and I feel like they are traumatized from what has happened with Abby, and it’s important for me to still be strict and do what I do," the ballroom dancer told Us Weekly in May 2017. "I expect nothing but the best from the girls, but it’s also important for me to make them feel confident about themselves because they are all beautiful and talented."
Keep scrolling to see everything the Dance Moms cast has said about Miller over the years:
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Two years after she left Dance Moms, the Fallout star revealed that she no longer speaks to Miller.
"We don’t keep in contact," Ziegler told Us in June 2018. "But I wish her the best."
In June 2022, she told Cosmopolitan that she felt she needed to leave Dance Moms — and the ALDC — for her own mental health. "She was distraught [when my sister and I left]. For the longest time, we felt so guilty," she explained. "She trained me, she helped me, but also, I knew I would be okay without her and I was sick of being in a toxic environment. I was like, 'This is not for me. I can’t do this.' I haven’t spoken to her since." Adding that she doesn't plan on speaking with Miller ever again, Ziegler said, "I feel at peace [now]."
The Girl on Pointe author — who was frequently a target of Miller's insults on Dance Moms — revealed that she and her mother, Christi, left the show after the Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition host made fun of her physical disability. “My former dance teacher made fun of a medical condition I have,” Lukasiak said in a January 2019 YouTube video, adding that she has silent sinus syndrome, a condition that causes facial asymmetry in her eye.
"If you know anything about Dance Moms, you probably know I was my former dance teacher’s least favorite student. She was really rough on me that year."
She continued: "As much respect as I have for her as a dance teacher and as a person and, of course with everything she’s going through right now, what she did was horrible."
“Facebook telling me I have a new friend suggestion," Hyland captioned a since-deleted TikTok video in May 2020, while zooming in on Miller's name. In response, she winced and shook her head "no" at the camera.
The Dancing With the Stars alum is one of the few Dance Moms alums who is still on good terms with Miller (and even slammed Hyland for her shady TikTok post). “I actually talk to Abby the most out of anybody from the show. She’s great. I think Abby got hurt by a lot of people and it’s really, really, really sad that a lot of the people don’t talk to her anymore,” Siwa told Us exclusively in May 2020.
“The same thing with a lot of the producers from Dance Moms. It’s just sad because Abby really is a good person."
She continued: "Even though you see her yelling and screaming at children on TV, like Abby made seven stars. I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for her. Maddie and Mackenzie [Ziegler] wouldn’t be where they are today without Abby."
In July 2022, Siwa and Miller reunited for the premiere of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
"Me all ready for a calm night at the premiere of HSMTMTS...," Siwa captioned a TikTok that transitioned to a clip of her grimacing as Miller is seated next to her. The former costars visibly laughed in the video.
In October 2022, Miller confirmed she and Siwa remain on good terms. The two both attended the 2022 Industry Dance Awards, where the Dancing With the Stars alum received this year's Trailblazer Award.
"I talk to JoJo a lot," the dance teacher shared on the red carpet. "We text a lot.
"
The singer seemingly threw shade at Miller in August 2020, when she took part in the "Bulletproof" trend on TikTok. "Think you can hurt my feelings? I was on Dance Moms," she captioned the post, referring to her former teacher's rude comments.
In March 2018, Sioux — the longest-running cast member of the ALDC — told Us that she "probably" wouldn't reconcile with Miller any time soon. "Never say never, but I’ve pretty much distanced myself for a while," she said at the time. "I really learned so much from her. I think one thing that I take from working with her is I learned how to deal with difficult people, with different types of people."
Sioux also took part in the "Bulletproof" challenge — although she was much more up front about who she was referring to. “You think you can hurt my feelings? I was the only Black girl on Dance Moms,” she wrote alongside her video, which was shared in August 2020. “And that’s on being bullied by the biggest bully in America.
LMAO.”
"When I was younger, I was going through a lot of hate, so I’m glad that I had you," Kenzie told her older sister, Maddie, during a joint interview with Elite Daily in May 2021. "Our teacher, the environment we were in — it was all very stressful as a kid. I’m glad we were doing the same thing so I could have a shoulder to lean on."
Maddie added that she felt terrible about the ways Miller would pit the two against one another. "It broke my heart that you got compared to me so much as a dancer," she said in the interview. "Like, if you didn’t win, why weren’t you as good as Maddie? That is so heartbreaking. Everyone should be allowed to shine in their own ways."
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Dance Moms: 5 Times I Agreed With Abby... And 5 Times I Agreed With The Moms
(Image credit: Lifetime)Abby Lee Miller is a complex woman. The Dance Moms star is known for her groundbreaking choreography and unorthodox teaching methods, as well as her eight-month stay in prison for hiding her earnings from the show.
I always liked to believe that Abby wasn’t really that mean to the girls. It had to just be producer tricks and creative editing, right? However, according to Maddie Ziegler’s 2022 interview with Cosmopolitan, the dancer has had to “unlearn” a lot of the toxic lessons Abby taught her. Maddie also revealed that she hasn’t spoken to Abby since leaving Dance Moms in 2016.
All that being said, the dance moms don’t exactly work hard to keep the peace at the ALDC. Say what you will about Abby, but there are many instances on the show where I actually have to take her side. Here are five examples of times I agreed with the dance moms…and five times I agreed with Abby.
(Image credit: Lifetime)AGREE WITH THE MOMS: Holly Explains The Negative Stereotypes In Nia’s Dances (Season 1, Episode 7)
As the only people of color on the original ALDC team, Holly and her daughter, Nia, are often the subjects of Abby’s “multicultural” dances. Holly hits a breaking point when Nia is assigned the solo “They Call Me Laquifa” (based on Shangela, a drag queen from RuPaul's Drag Race, which is getting another spinoff), complete with an afro wig and a leopard print bodysuit.
Abby’s defense for Nia’s “ethnic” dances is always that she wants to prepare Nia to be able to dance in any type of style, at any audition—but Holly doesn’t want her daughter to be typecast, or be a part of promoting hurtful stereotypes about people of color.
Abby can’t see Holly’s point of view and becomes hostile. It’s a tone-deaf and frustrating response on Abby’s part, and I obviously side with Holly.
(Image credit: Lifetime)AGREE WITH THE MOMS: Abby Takes Credit for Sophia Lucia (Season 3, Episode 3)
One short-term member of the ALDC is none other than Sophia Lucia, a dancer from California who went viral for her turn videos and holds the Guiness World Record for consecutive pirouettes.
Abby’s master plan is always to scare her dancers into working harder, but she does so by telling the girls how superior Sophia’s dancing is to theirs. The moms are quick to point out that Abby didn’t train Sophia — but she did train the six dancers at the ALDC who can’t keep up with her.
Chloe’s mother Christi has some choice words for Abby in the dressing room:
Chloe is a product of you. She’s been at your studio since she was two…You are a plagiarist. That little girl is somebody else’s student and you just put your name on her back.
Abby doesn’t have a good comeback, because it’s true!
(Image credit: Lifetime)AGREE WITH THE MOMS: Abby Wants Chloe To Start Homeschooling (Season 4, Episode 5)
At the start of Season 4, Melissa shares with the moms that her daughters, Maddie and Mackenzie, have started homeschooling to allow more time for dance.
Abby takes notice of the positive effects homeschooling has had on their training, and suggests to Christi that Chloe should do the same. The moms have a lot of objections, especially Holly (a former teacher and principal).
Christi asks Chloe what she thinks about homeschooling, and the very mature 12-year old says that while she loves dance, she loves school too and doesn’t want to give up the part of life that’s “normal.
” Rather than succumb to Abby’s pressure, Christi listens to her daughter. This one goes to the moms.
AGREE WITH THE MOMS: Abby Brings In A New Team (Season 4, Episode 16)
Abby’s catchphrase, “everyone’s replaceable,” gets a lot of mileage during Season 4 of Dance Moms when she begins auditioning dancers for a new team to go up against the Elite Competition Team.
Meanwhile, the girls work harder than ever to prove to Abby that they don’t need to be replaced, leading to a winning streak that spans 13 weeks.
Despite the winning streak, Abby brings in the new team anyway. The moms are upset, and rightly so — don’t 13 straight wins prove their girls’ dedication and talent? In the season finale, Abby dismisses all the Select team members, proving that all along they had just been pawns in her scare tactics. It was a waste of everyone’s time.
(Image credit: Lifetime)AGREE WITH THE MOMS: Mackenzie’s Hip Hop Solo (Season 6, Episode 16)
In Season 6, Melissa finally makes the announcement that she and her daughters are leaving the ALDC.
When the time comes for Mackenzie to perform what might be her last solo ever, Abby assigns her an acrobatic routine.
Mackenzie begs Abby to let her do a hip-hop routine — but Abby snaps that if she isn’t happy with the choreography, she doesn’t have to do a solo. Against Abby’s wishes, the moms change Mackenzie’s music and choreography to a hip-hop solo.
Here’s the kicker: Mackenzie absolutely kills it. She comes out and gives the most energized and expressive solo of her career, taking first place. Abby ruined the chance to create a special dance with one of her all-time favorite students.
(Image credit: Lifetime)AGREE WITH ABBY: The Moms Give Abby The Silent Treatment (Season 3, Episode 2)
After Kelly and her daughters make an exit from the ALDC at the start of Season 3, Abby makes the decision to fill the girls’ spots. To stand in solidarity with Kelly, the moms stage a peaceful protest — and by that I mean they give Abby the silent treatment.
It’s childish and counterproductive, and definitely doesn’t help in getting Kelly back on the team.
I’m on Abby’s side here. Nothing good can come from the silent treatment.
AGREE WITH ABBY: The Moms Change The Group Dance After Broadway Baby’s Death (Season 3, Episode 9)
Abby is devastated by the death of her beloved dog, Broadway Baby. Claiming they want to do something nice for her, the moms hatch a plan to secretly change the group dance to a tribute dedicated to the pup.
Unsurprisingly, Abby isn’t pleased that the mothers went behind her back and changed her choreography. They should have known better. As a fellow person who considers my pets to be my babies, I have to side with Abby. Messing with that woman’s vision after her dog’s death was a recipe for disaster.
(Image credit: Lifetime)AGREE WITH ABBY: Abby Puts Payton In Her Place (Season 3, Episode 35)
Payton, one of Abby’s studio dancers, is often invited to dance with the team when they need an extra for a group number. That’s the case in this Season 3 episode, where Payton joins the team during one of Kelly, Brooke, and Paige’s many hiatuses.
In the dressing room, Abby accidentally calls Payton “Kendall,” after which Payton announces her name to the room, basically telling everyone to get it right.
Payton’s little teen-angst outburst isn’t cute to Abby, who slams Payton for being disrespectful and immature. Payton’s mom, Leslie, isn’t too thrilled, but this was just one of many examples of Payton acting superior to the other girls. Agree with Abby.
(Image credit: Lifetime)AGREE WITH ABBY: The White Board (Season 4, Episode 27)
There aren’t many times you’ll catch me disagreeing with Dr. Holly, but the white board incident is one of them.
Holly has the idea to keep track of the negative comments each dancer receives during rehearsals. What starts as a discreet tally in Christi’s notes app turns into a massive white board with each dancer’s name.
The board distracts the girls and disrupts class. While I disagree with many of Abby’s teaching methods, she makes a good point when confronting the moms: They signed up to work with Abby, not the other way around.
If they don’t like the way she teaches, they’re more than welcome to find another teacher.
AGREE WITH ABBY: Abby Gives JoJo The Michael Jackson Duet As A Solo (Season 6, Episode 14)
Before JoJo Siwa was an international superstar and a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, she was a member of the ALDC.
During a Michael Jackson-themed week, Abby assigns a duet to Kendall and Maddie. But when Maddie has to miss rehearsal for a gig, Abby has JoJo jump in to take her place. Kendall isn’t happy about it — she wants to do the duet with Maddie, her best friend.
Abby says that if Kendall doesn’t want to do the duet with JoJo, then JoJo can do the dance as a solo. Jill is furious, claiming that JoJo’s mom, Jessalynn, should have intervened to stop Abby from giving Kendall’s duet away.
I wholeheartedly, 100% side with Abby. JoJo got the solo because Kendall didn’t want it. She was willing to step in and give the choreography a try, and she gave the performance her all.
JoJo did nothing wrong, and deserved a chance to do a solo, regardless of who the dance was intended for.
What do you think? Did I miss any big fights? Luckily, Seasons 1 through 8 of Dance Moms are available to stream on Lifetime, with many more feuds to debate.
She/her. Lover of female-led comedies, Saturday Night Live, and THAT scene in Fleabag. Will probably get up halfway through the movie to add more butter to the popcorn.
The legend of dance and its god, Makhmud Esambaev: "My beloved Jewish mother"
Makhmud Esambaev was the first artist of the USSR who performed with his solo program and collected dances from the peoples of the world in one concert. About his work, he said: “Dance is life. I breathe through dance. Lungs do not count.” He is a rare nugget, a fairy-tale prince, one of a kind, unique and unrepeatable. Such masters of dance as Galina Ulanova and Igor Moiseev bowed before him.
The god of dance, the legend of world choreography, the great son of the Caucasus, he liked to repeat: "I have a pair of wings - Chechnya and Russia.
" And he became a citizen of the whole world, devoting his fate to serving beauty and selfless help to the people. And his stepmother played a huge role in his development, whom the dancer himself always considered his second, his Jewish mother, who replaced the boy not only as a mother, but became a true friend, a guardian angel.
My father is a Chechen and my mother is a Chechen. My father lived to be 106 years old and married 11 times.
By his second marriage, he married a Jewess, Sofya Mikhailovna from Odessa. I always call her and only her mom. She called me Moishe.
“Moishe,” she said, “I went into exile only because of you. I feel sorry for you.
This is when all Chechens were resettled in Central Asia. We lived in Frunze. I spent all my days with the boys in the yard.
- Moishe! she shouted. - Go here.
- What, mother?
- Come here, I'll tell you why you're so thin. Because you never see the bottom of the plate. Go eat your soup until the end.
And then you will go.
- Moisha has a good mixture, - they said in the yard, - mother is a Jewess, father is a Nazi.
Exiled Chechens were considered fascists there. Mom didn’t eat herself, but gave everything to me. She went to visit her acquaintances from Odessa, Fira Markovna, Maya Isaakovna - they lived richer than us - and brought me a piece of strudel or something else.
- Moishe, this is for you.
- Mom, have you eaten?
- I don't want to.
I began to lead a circle at the meat processing plant, taught ballroom and Western dances. For this I received a bag of horse bones. Mom tore off pieces of meat from them and made cutlets in half with bread, and the bones went to the broth. At night, I threw the bones away from home so that they would not know that they were ours. She knew how to cook a delicious dinner out of nothing. When I started earning a lot, she cooked chicken necks, tsimes, she cooked herring in such a way that one could go crazy. My friends at the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater still remember: “Misha! How your mother fed us all!”
But at first we were very poor.
Mom said: “Tomorrow we are going to the wedding to Melameds. There we eat gefilte fish, goose greaves. We don't have this at home. Just don't be shy, eat more."
***
I already danced well and sang Varnechkes. It was my mother's favorite song. She listened to it like the anthem of the Soviet Union. And she loved Tamara Khanum because she sang Varnechkes.
Mom used to say: “At the wedding you will be asked to dance. Dance, then rest, then sing. When you sing, don't move your neck. You are not a giraffe. Don't look at everyone. Stand against me and sing for your mother, the rest will listen."
I saw the rabbi, the bride and groom under the chuppah at the wedding. Then everyone sat down at the table. Music played and shmantsy dances began. Mom said: "Now Moishe will dance." I danced five or six times. Then she said: “Moishe, now sing.” I stood up against her and began: “You are dumb men, woo dumb men, woo dumb men? ..” Mom said: “See what a talent it is!” And they said to her: “Thank you, Sofya Mikhailovna, that you raised one Jewish boy correctly.
Others, like Russians, don't know anything in Jewish.
***
She was my stepmother and a gypsy. She taught me to guess, to steal in the market. I was very good at stealing. She said: "Zhidenok, come here, we will sing."
***
I was accepted into the troupe of the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theatre. Mom attended all my performances.
Mom asked me:
- Moishe, tell me: are Russians a people?
- Yes, mother.
— Are the Spaniards also a people?
- People, mother.
— And the Indians?
- Yes.
— Are the Jews not a people?
- Why, mom, people too.
- And if these are the people, then why don't you dance the Jewish dance? In "Eugene Onegin" you dance a Russian dance, in "Lakma" you dance a Hindu dance.
- Mom, who will show me the Jewish dance?
- I'll show you.
She was very heavy, probably weighing 150 kilograms.
- How will you show?
- By hand.
— And with your feet?
- You can figure it out yourself.
She hummed and showed me "Freylekhs", it is also called "Seven Forty". At 7.40 a train departed from Odessa to Chisinau. And everyone was dancing at the station. I read Sholom Aleichem and made myself the dance "A Junger Schneider". The costume was made, as it were, from scraps of material that remain with the tailor. The trousers are short, the back is made of a different material. I beat it all in the dance. This dance has become an encore for me. For an encore, I repeated it three or four times.
Mom said, “Baby, do you think I want you to dance a Jewish dance because I'm Jewish? No. Jews will talk about you: have you seen him do the Brazilian dance? Or Spanish dance? They won't talk about Jewish. But they will love you for the Jewish dance."
In Belarusian cities, in those years when Jewish art was not very encouraged, Jewish viewers asked me: "How did you get a Jewish dance?" I answered: "I allowed myself."
Mom had her own place in the theater. They said: "Misha's mother is sitting here.
" Mom asks me:
- Moishe, you dance the best, you get the most applause, why do everyone wear flowers, but you don't?
- Mom, - I say, - we have no relatives.
— Isn't that what the people wear?
- No. Relatives.
***
Then I come home. We had one room, an iron bed stood against the door. I see my mother with her head under the bed and joking about something. I say:
- Mom, get out immediately, I'll get what you need.
"Moishe," she says from under the bed. - I see your legs, so, make it so that I don't see them. Come out.
***
I went away, but I saw everything. She pulled out a sack, took out a darned old felt boot from it, from it a rag, in the rag was a wad of money tied with twine.
- Mom, - I say, - where do we get such money from?
- Son, I collected it so that you don't have to run around and look for something to bury mommy. Okay, bury and so.
In the evening I dance in Raymond by Abdurakhman. In the first act, I fly onto the stage in a chic cape, in gold, in a turban.
Raymonda plays the lute. We meet eyes. We look at each other in fascination. There is a curtain. I haven't actually danced yet, I just jumped onto the stage. After the first act, the administrator gives me a luxurious bouquet. The flowers were handed over to the administrator and told whom to give. After the second act, they give me a bouquet again. After the third one too. I already understood that all this is mommy. The play ran in four acts. This means that after the fourth there will be flowers. I gave all three bouquets to the administrator and asked in the final to give me four at once. He did just that. They said in the theater: think, Esambaev was thrown with flowers.
The next day, mommy removed the withered flowers, it turned out three bouquets, then two, then one. Then she bought flowers again.
Somehow my mother fell ill and was in bed. And they give me flowers. I bring flowers home and say:
- Mom, why did you get up? You need to lie down.
"Moishe," she says.
- I didn't get up. I can not get up.
- Where are the flowers from?
- People realized that you deserve flowers. Now they wear it to you.
I became the leading theater artist in Kyrgyzstan and received all the awards there. I love Kyrgyzstan like my Motherland. I was treated there like a native person.
Shortly before Stalin's death, my mother learned from her friend Esfir Markovna that the deportation of all Jews was being prepared. She came home and said to me:
- Well, Moishe, how the Chechens sent us here, how the Jews deport us even further. Barracks are already being built there.
- Mom, - I say, - you and I have already learned how to ride. Wherever they send us, we will go there, the main thing is for us to be together. I will not leave you.
When Stalin died, she said: "Now it will be better."
When I married Nina, I cannot say that friendship arose between her and my mother.
I started teaching dance at the Ministry of Internal Affairs School, money appeared.
I bought my mother a gold watch with a chain, and I bought Nina a white metal watch.
***
The wife says:
- You bought your mother with a gold chain instead of buying them for me, I'm young, and my mother could have worn simple ones.
- Nina, - I say, - Shame on you. What good did mom see in this life? Let her at least be glad that she has such a watch.
***
They stopped talking, but they never quarreled with each other. Only once, when Nina, having swept the floor, came out with garbage, mother said: “By the way, Moishe, you could marry better.” This is the only thing she said about her.
My daughter was born. Mom took her in her arms, put her between her big breasts, caressed her. The daughter loved her grandmother very much. Then Nina and her mother figured it out on their own. And my mother says to me: “Moishe, I’m looking after Nina, she’s still not bad. And the fact that you did not marry Pachman's daughter is also good, she is spoiled.
She wouldn’t be able to do everything for you.” She and Nina began to live together.
The father has already changed several wives during this time. He lived not far from us. Mom says: “Moishe, your father brought a new nikewa. Go take a look." I walked.
- Mom, - I say, - she's so scary!
- So he needs it.
She died when she was 91 years old. It happened like this. She had a sister, Mira. She lived in Vilnius. She came to us in Frunze. She began to invite her mother to stay with her: “Sofa, come. Misha is already a family man. He won't disappear for a month or two without you." As I dissuaded her: “The climate is different there. You can't at your age!" She says, "Moishe, I'll eat a little and then I'll be back." She left and didn't come back.
She was a very kind person. We lived a wonderful life with her. Never needed my father. She has replaced my own mother. If they were both alive now, I would not know who to go to hug first.
The Coasters - Teach Me How To Shimmy
Mama you taught me how to do the bop
Mother you taught me dance bop
You taught me how to boogie real slow - yeah
You taught me dance Boogie Woogie very slowly - Yes
You taught me how to twist and you taught me how to slop
You taught me, how twist, and you taught me, how devour.
Mama teach me one thing more
Mother, teach me more something.
Come on and teach me how to shimmy
Let's teach me dance shimmy
Like you and Daddy do (come on get it, come on get it)
How you and Dad (let's, let's, let's).
Teach me how to shimmy - huh huh
Teach me shimmy ha ha!
So I can shimmy too (come on get it)
So what I too can shimmy (well same, get this is).
Mama there's gonna be a dance today
Mother today in the evening will dancing
You gotta teach me the ball creep - yeah
You must teach me crawl on ball-yes
And Mama if I can't do it right
And mother if I not I can do this is right
You know Gerry's gonna steal my guy
You know, Jerry going steal my guy.
Come on and teach me how to shimmy
Let's teach me dance shimmy
Like you and Daddy do (come on get it, come on get it)
How you and Dad (let's, let's, let's).
Teach me how to shimmy - huh huh
Teach me shimmy ha ha!
So I can shimmy too (come on get it)
So what I too can shimmy (well same, get this is).
I can hully gully good as Gerry can
I know how hallie Galli So same Good how Jerry
But Mama hully gully ain't win it
But mother hallie Galli not will win
My little boy he loves that we gonna cheat
My small boy he loves what we we will cheat
And there's only one thing - gonna get it now
And there is only one thing - I get her now.
And teach me how to shimmy
And teach me shimmy.
Like you and Daddy do (come on get it, come on get it)
How you and Dad (let's, let's, let's).
Teach me how to shimmy - woh Oh
Teach me shimmy-woo-oh!
So I can shimmy too (come on get it)
So what I too can shimmy (well same, get this is).
Shimmy
Shimmy,
Like you and Daddy do (come on get it, come on get it)
how you and daddy (let's, let's, let's).
Teach me how to shimmy
Teach me dance shimmy
Like you and Daddy do (come on get it, come on get it)
How you and Dad (let's, let's, let's).
Teach me how to shimmy
Teach me dance shimmy
Like you and Daddy do (come on get it, come on get it)
How you and Dad (let's, let's, let's).
Teach me how to shimmy - woh Oh
Teach me shimmy-woo-oh!
So I can shimmy too
So what I too can shimmy
Authors: Mike Stoller, Jerry Leiber
Album
The Definitive Coasters (A Sides & B Sides)
release date
25-03-2013
one Charlie Brown
2 Yakety Yak
3 Down In Mexico
four One Kiss Led to Another
5 Brazil
6 What About Us?
7 I'm a Hog For You
eight Poison Ivy
9 I must be dreamin'
ten (Ain't That) Just Like Me
eleven Bull Tick Waltz
12 Searchin'
13 The Shadow Knows
fourteen youngblood
fifteen Shoppin' for clothes
16 Riot in Cell Block #9
17 Smokey Joe's Cafe
eighteen Run Red Run
19 I Love Paris
twenty Lola
21 Zing! Went the Strings of my Heart
22 That Is Rock & Roll
23 Besame Mucho (Part II) - Part II
24 Thumbin' a Ride
25 Girls Girls Girls (Part I) - Part I
26 Wrap It Up
27 Girls Girls Girls (Part II) - Part II
28 Framed
29 Idol With the Golden Head
thirty Sweet Georgia Brown
31 Three Cool Cats
32 Along Came Jones
33 Besame Mucho (Part I) - Part I
34 Wake me, shake me
35 Wait a Minute
36 Little Egypt (Ying Yang)
37 Loop De Loop Mambo
38 If Teardrops Were Kisses
39 The Hatchet Man
40 Just Like a Fool
41 Turtle Dovin'
42 My Baby Comes To Me
43 What is the Secret of Your Success?
44 Gee, Golly
45 Sorry but I'm gonna have to pass
46 Crocodile
47 Hey Sexy
48 Stewball
49 Keep on Rolling
fifty lady like
51 Ridin' Hood
52 hongry
53 bad blood
54 My babe
55 The Climb
56 Teach Me How To Shimmy
57 Whadaya' Want
58 One Kiss
59 Dance
60 The Snake And The Book Worm
More The Coasters albums
Best of the Best (Remastered)
2018
Yakety Yak
2016
Magical Favorites
2015
Girls Girls Girls, Pt.
