We want to have Abby Lee Miller from Dance Moms visa revoked by Australian Immigration and not be allowed to conduct her tour.
We want to have Abby Lee Miller from Dance Moms visa revoked by Australian Immigration and not be allowed to conduct her tour.
The issue
DANCE teachers want to ban an Australian tour by a celebrity American dance teacher accused of bullying her teenage students.
Abby Lee Miller, star of cult reality television show Dance Moms, has provoked outrage among local dance teachers and parents who want her visa revoked because of her “emotionally abusive” style.
She has been accused of chair-throwing, pinching and verbally abusing children in her classes.
Miller’s company, featuring 12-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler, who appears in pop singer Sia’s video Chandelier, will tour Australia next month for showcases, masterclasses and competitions.
The tour will be filmed for season five of Dance Moms, and tickets are priced at up to $250 a person, sparking further charges that Australian dance fans are being exploited.
Peter Oxford, child ambassador for the Australian dance industry and president of Showcase, Australia’s biggest dance competition, said he had received a “huge” amount of complaints from concerned teachers and parents who claim Miller’s combative approach potentially breached local working-with-children laws.
Dance Moms shows Miller screaming at her students and, on one occasion, tussling with a parent. Last year, a former student, Paige Hyland, 13, filed a lawsuit in the US, claiming Miller caused emotional distress with her alleged mental and physical abuse.
Australian dance manager Jenny Jones said there was a growing backlash against Miller’s tour across the industry, and on dance forums such as the 2000-strong Dance Teachers Inc Australia online group.
Peter Oxford called for her visa to be revoked. “We stop people coming in the country who advocate against child immunisation from the US — why can’t we stop a dance teacher who advocates and makes financial gain from screaming at kids?”
The NSW Office for The Children’s Guardian, which regulates children working in the entertainment industry, said it would be contacting the company “in relation to their compliance with their legislative obligations, both under the Children’s Employment and the Working With Children legislation”.
The issue
DANCE teachers want to ban an Australian tour by a celebrity American dance teacher accused of bullying her teenage students.
Abby Lee Miller, star of cult reality television show Dance Moms, has provoked outrage among local dance teachers and parents who want her visa revoked because of her “emotionally abusive” style.
She has been accused of chair-throwing, pinching and verbally abusing children in her classes.
Miller’s company, featuring 12-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler, who appears in pop singer Sia’s video Chandelier, will tour Australia next month for showcases, masterclasses and competitions.
The tour will be filmed for season five of Dance Moms, and tickets are priced at up to $250 a person, sparking further charges that Australian dance fans are being exploited.
Peter Oxford, child ambassador for the Australian dance industry and president of Showcase, Australia’s biggest dance competition, said he had received a “huge” amount of complaints from concerned teachers and parents who claim Miller’s combative approach potentially breached local working-with-children laws.
Dance Moms shows Miller screaming at her students and, on one occasion, tussling with a parent. Last year, a former student, Paige Hyland, 13, filed a lawsuit in the US, claiming Miller caused emotional distress with her alleged mental and physical abuse.
Australian dance manager Jenny Jones said there was a growing backlash against Miller’s tour across the industry, and on dance forums such as the 2000-strong Dance Teachers Inc Australia online group.
Peter Oxford called for her visa to be revoked. “We stop people coming in the country who advocate against child immunisation from the US — why can’t we stop a dance teacher who advocates and makes financial gain from screaming at kids?”
The NSW Office for The Children’s Guardian, which regulates children working in the entertainment industry, said it would be contacting the company “in relation to their compliance with their legislative obligations, both under the Children’s Employment and the Working With Children legislation”.
Petition Closed
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Petition created on 21 February 2015