Abby Lee Miller on Tumbleweeds, Life Lessons, and Why a Nintendo Labo Just Doesn’t Make the Cut
There’s something quite poetic about a tumbleweed. It just goes where the wind takes it, rolling through the dust, never really settling down. And if you ask Abby Lee Miller, that’s a pretty fitting picture of her life right now. The dance guru, TV powerhouse, and author of Everything I Learned about Life, I Learned in Dance Class has been spotted in California, watching these desert wanderers bounce past her window. “They’re like my old dancers,” she jokes. “Always on the move, always dramatic, and they always end up somewhere you least expect.”
Miller, who’s never one to shy away from a good metaphor, is in a reflective mood. Coming out of a whirlwind of health battles, legal troubles, and the kind of media attention that would floor most people, she’s come through with a philosophy as sharp as her famous choreography. “You can’t fight the wind,” she tells me, sipping something green that looks disgustingly healthy. “But you can learn to move with it. That’s what I wrote in that book. Life throws you a pirouette when you’re expecting a simple plié.”
Dance Moms, Justice Department Drama, and a Little on McCabe
Speaking of unexpected twists, Miller hasn’t missed the news from Washington—the Justice Department watchdog sending a criminal referral for former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. “I saw that and thought, ‘Honey, welcome to my world’,” she says with a knowing eye roll. “I’ve been through the legal grinder. I’ve done the orange jumpsuit look. And you know what? The dance floor doesn’t care about your court dates. It’s always there, waiting for you to come back.”
It’s this resilience that makes her a favourite among fans who’ve followed her from Dance Moms to her comeback after prison. She’s not just a reality star; she’s a survivor. And while the stock market wobbles—oil prices shaky over Iran tensions, investors biting their nails—Miller’s focus stays firmly on the studio. “Let the traders trade,” she shrugs. “I’ll stick to teaching kids the difference between a fan kick and a fouetté. Now that’s real currency.”
What an 11-Year-Old Taught Her About Nintendo Labo
But it’s not all serious. Miller recently came across an online review by an 11-year-old who’d built a dance robot using Nintendo Labo. The kid’s verdict? “It’s fun, but it can’t yell at you like Abby Lee.” Miller bursts out laughing when she hears this. “Out of the mouths of babes! That little one gets it. You can’t program passion. You can’t code the fire in a dancer’s belly. Nintendo can try, bless them, but they’ll never replicate the moment a kid nails a routine after weeks of hard work.”
She admits the review reminded her why she does what she does. “We’re in an age where everything’s digital, but dance is the last raw, human thing. When I see a child pour their soul into a step, that’s better than any screen.” And yes, she’s already planning to bring the Labo idea into her classes—not as a replacement, but as a fun warm-up. “Maybe we’ll have a Nintendo Labo dance-off. But the robot’s going home in tears.”
- On California: “The tumbleweeds are my spirit animal. They don’t stop, they just keep rolling.”
- On the book: “If you haven’t read Everything I Learned about Life, I Learned in Dance Class, you’re missing the bible of ballet and beyond.”
- On the Justice Department: “They can have McCabe. I’ve got my own stage.”
- On Nintendo Labo: “Cute, but can it do a triple turn? I don’t think so.”
As the afternoon sun catches the dust outside her window, Miller leans back. The tumbleweeds keep rolling. The markets keep fluctuating. The legal dramas keep unfolding. But Abby Lee Miller? She’s exactly where she belongs—centre stage, reminding us that everything she learned about life, she really did learn in dance class. And that’s a lesson no robot, no legal referral, and no gust of wind can ever take away.