Nia Sioux is finally ready to talk about Abby Lee Miller and racism on ‘Dance Moms’

NEW YORK – Two things were pretty much a given on an episode of “Dance Moms”: One, that there would be a pyramid ranking the young dancers; and two, that Nia Sioux would be at the bottom of it.

Sioux was 9 years old when her dance class in Pittsburgh became the faces of a new reality show. Alongside peers like Chloe Lukasiak and Maddie Ziegler, Sioux ramped up her dance schedule and competed weekly. Cameras captured tough-love coach Abby Lee Miller and her fan-favorite sayings (“Save your tears for the pillow!”) as well as arguments between the girls’ moms. Over eight years, the show morphed into toxic catfights, backstabbing parents and even a bankruptcy fraud conviction for Miller. But it also became a place where young dancers like JoJo Siwa got a career boost.

Some of the cast reunited last year for a taped special to share memories, laughs and tears. Sioux was notably absent. Why? She wasn’t ready to tell her story yet. 

Now, Sioux is speaking her truth in memoir “Bottom of the Pyramid,” out Nov. 4 from Harper Horizon. The book’s title is a redefinition.

“Using it as the title of my book is reclaiming my narrative and turning it into a positive and showing people that even if you start at the bottom, you don't have to stay there,” Sioux tells USA TODAY.

‘Finally able to give baby Nia her flowers’

Sioux’s parents were hesitant to let her on the show. Both worked full-time and cared for her two brothers. Pittsburgh wasn't a place where things like this happened, Sioux says.

“They're very normal, not really into drama. They like to stay out of things. They didn’t think that ('Dance Moms') would be something that really would amount to much,” Sioux says. Her mother, school principal Holly Frazier, became known as “Dr. Holly” to fans and gained a reputation as the most drama-averse dance mom. “She had to hold herself to a certain standard. She had people looking up to her, not just me, but students. That's a big deal.” 

But it didn’t take long for Sioux or her mother to realize she was being “set up to fail,” Sioux says, labeled by Miller as a lazy or bad dancer. In her book, Sioux writes about being given fewer solos and less-advanced choreography. When she was given a spotlight, she says, it was often only for tokenized roles. The other girls got pretty lyrical solos, while Sioux, the only Black dancer for much of the series, played slave characters and wore “mocking” afro wigs for songs like “They Call Me Laquifa.” 

The message she heard from Miller and fans of the show was "You’re not good enough," or "You’re a step behind" and "You’ll never get the solo." But largely absent from the show was a pain management disorder – reflex neurovascular dystrophy, also known as complex regional pain syndrome – Sioux has dealt with for much of her life.

“That is a huge part of my story,” Sioux says. “When people thought that I was just a beat behind or maybe not as good as people at the very beginning, they saw it as me being weak. But really, I was struggling. I had just been out of the hospital a few months prior. It took me a long time to bounce back and get into the rhythm of things.”

Seeing viewers run with Miller’s criticisms of Sioux was “really hurtful” as she grew up in the public eye. Now, she’s defining success on her own terms. Winning isn’t a first-place trophy; it’s feeling she has given her all. It’s publishing a book she’s proud of. 

“I’m finally able to give baby Nia her flowers, and it’s really special,” Sioux says. 

Nia Sioux alleges racism from Abby Lee Miller, viewers on ‘Dance Moms’

The racially motivated dances started even before “Dance Moms” aired, she says. Sioux writes about one early solo where Miller had her dancing with animal-like movements to a song called “Nattie of the Jungle” with monkey sounds and lyrics about a dirty, unwashed girl raised in the wild. Numbers that could have been a respectful nod were tainted, like a now-infamous "Rosa Parks" dance in which she had to compete with White dancers for the lead. Sioux’s mom was not pleased. In the book, Sioux writes that she felt producers and Miller wanted to goad her into “behaving like the trope of the angry Black woman.”

In 2020, Miller’s new Lifetime show, "Abby’s Virtual Dance Off," was nixed amid racism allegations. The dance coach later posted an apology on social media. In it, she cited two Black "Dance Moms" cast members by name but did not include Sioux. In her memoir, Sioux writes the omission “spoke volumes.”

"Do I wish I got an apology? Sure. But that's never going to happen, and I've made peace with that, and I've made closure with that," Sioux says. "And honestly, at this point, an apology really wouldn't do anything."

USA TODAY has reached out to Miller for comment.

It came from viewers, too, Sioux says, with social media posts saying she either wasn’t Black enough or was ashamed of being Black. She was particularly bothered by the narrative that she was the “weak Black dancer,” when the field – although largely White – has been transformed by Black visionaries. 

“I, more than anything, wanted to be surrounded by people that look like me and to be accepted for who I am and what I look like and to be seen as beautiful just like the other girls.”

Do the ‘Dance Moms’ girls still talk?

Still, the animosity came largely from the adults on the show, not the kids, Sioux says. She’s still close with many of the girls. Lukasiak wrote the foreword for her book. Brooke Hyland, one of the original dancers, called her when she got engaged. 

“We still went through the same things, even if we felt different ways, even if we saw them from different perspectives,” Sioux says. “That’s the beautiful thing about us – we can go years without talking to each other and then one day meet up and it’s like no time has passed.”

She doesn’t have as fond an opinion of Miller, whom she hasn’t seen since the show. Sioux reached out when she found out Miller had cancer. She says Miller never responded.

“I don't want to keep a relationship with her, and I don't wish any ill will at all. It's just one of those things where when I'm done, I'm done and I'm good. I just want to live my life.”

Beyond the pyramid: Why did Nia stay on ‘Dance Moms’?

Despite the turbulence, Sioux continued on the show and ended up the last member of the original cast to stay.

“Knowing that people didn’t want me there only made me want to stay more,” Sioux says. “Yes, I felt like I had to prove something to them, but I also just wanted to prove to myself that I could finish what I started. Even at 9 years old, when my parents were like, ‘Hey, this is a huge deal. You're going to sign this contract. You have to honor this contract,’ for some reason, at 9 years old, I understood that.”

She doesn’t regret staying, and her parents don't regret letting her on the show, she says. Now, with some distance, she understands she didn’t owe it to anyone but herself. 

In a post-“Dance Moms” world, Sioux’s future looks bright. She has performed off-Broadway and produced music, and she has worked with politicians on voting advocacy, women’s rights and reproductive rights. She went to college and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the historically Black organization her mother is a part of, too. Whatever her next project is, she knows it’ll be about telling diverse stories.

And she hasn’t hung up her jazz shoes, either. 

“I still love to dance. I danced throughout college, which was lovely. I did a dance club, and that was very therapeutic. It was very healing for me.

“I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon. Even if things get busy, even if I don't dance as much, it's still a huge part of me. I'm still a dancer at my core, and it's still who I am.”

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at [email protected].