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Hi guys

Welcome to our very first Back to the Barre Mini Episode!

We’re experimenting with something new and fun—an extra bonus mini episode each week to give you a little more Kelly & Christi in your life. This is not replacing our regular episodes at all—just an added bonus to see if you like having a shorter, more casual drop in the feed.

Think of minis as quicker chats, listener questions, hot takes, polls and things we don’t always get to during the main episode.

Want to be part of a future mini?

🎙️ Leave us a question on SpeakPipe: www.speakpipe.com/BackToTheBarre and yours might be featured on an upcoming mini episode.

You can also head over to our Patreon, where we post free questions that you can answer—some of those may end up on minis too! www.patreon.com/backtothebarre

This is brand-new territory for us, so consider this our trial run. Let us know what you think—we’re excited to try something new and give you a little extra Back to the Barre each week

XO

Christi & Kelly

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We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

"This was a very franken-bit heavy episode. There were numerous times where I knew Abby did not say that." As Christi notes here there was clearly a lot of editing behind the scenes on this episode, but once you hear some of what Abby had to say in the show notes you won't be too shocked why that is. On Season 5's "Nia's Last Chance", Abby starts to take things too far in her treatment of the girls (shock) and as the title suggests no one is getting the worse end of that stick than Nia.

After getting a win over Cathy the week prior, Abby is in a better than average mood at Pyramid and puts the whole team on the same spot for their hard work... except Maddie who still gets her pre-requisite spot at the top. Though not everyone gets off easy as Abby has the girls critique JoJo as some sort of hazing ritual to finally be accepted onto the team. JoJo fortunately takes it better than expected, but it's hard not to feel like a harbinger of what's to come.

Turning their attention to the upcoming competition in Philadelphia, the moms ask Abby if she can give the girls some more contemporary material to work with, feeling that she's not quite yet lived up to her promise of giving them more challenging choreography to better prepare them for the professional world. Abby responds in kind by giving the team clearly the same lyrical material they're used to, just calling it something else. They'd worry about this more if there clearly wasn't something more pressing to deal with, like Abby's continued obsession with trying to put Holly and Nia in their place for their crime on doing the right thing. Nia is given a solo but is warned she won't be getting anymore if she fails to place.

Holly forms a pact with Jess and Kira to have each other's back when dealing with Abby, which angers Jill for some reason? Jill and Melissa are upset Holly would side with the new moms despite the fact they themselves wouldn't stand up to Abby, and it's clear Jill is quickly morphing into Melissa 2.0. But can you blame Holly when you hear some of the things Abby says about Nia off screen? What might she have said you ask? Well you'll have to tune, it's to unsavory to write out here.

Quotes

• “Let me show you this jacket, you're going to die. It is the ugliest thing you've ever seen. However, it will be fun to wear tonight if I wear it." (02:10-02:15 | Christi)
• “The moms seem to be enjoying deep throating the hot dogs more... OH MY GOD!!! Ok I made that up, though it does say they enjoy them more than the girls. " (49:49-50:03 | Christi & Kelly)
• “Melissa bitterly mentions last time there was a pact with Kelly and Christi... yeah you f**cking broke it!" (1:15:26-1:15:32 | Christi)
• “I hope the kids at the ALDC make a lot of money cause they're going to need it for therapy one day. No we didn't, and yes we need therapy." (2:01:27-2:01:35 | Christi & 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

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

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

We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

"The field notes for Candy Apples are unhinged. If you guys have never read the field notes for this episode then buckle up. It is possibly equal or crazier than some of our craziest stuff that has gone on. I don not know why they did not show any of this." And Christi isn't downplaying that either. Off screen an entire war was waged between Lucas' mom Bridget and Cathy, which left our Bitches floored by the sheer lunacy of the situation. While you got a taste of it in the episode proper, there's so much more name calling and subterfuge that it's honestly a little hard to keep track of!

This week the ALDC and Candy Apples will pair off again at Sheer Talent in New Jersey... which of course since Abby has a stake in that competition it seems rather unlikely out the gate the Apples will stand a chance. Cathy is aware of this and enlists Erin Babbs to choreograph for the Candy Apples, hoping it'll not only produce great results but also annoy Abby in the process since she lost to Babbs a little over a month prior. It certainly annoys Abby, but it's going to take Cathy busting out a megaphone to really get her blood boiling (and Production is only too eager to oblige).

Quotes

• “Ugh, Jess is always bad. She's kind of like the new Christi, in that she's always showing up with some ugly shit." (10:33-10:39 | Christi)
• “Oh my gosh, is Abby telling someone to listen to their mother?" (1:20:33-1:20:36 | Kelly)
• “My biggest question tho is I would really like to know where they were holding Vivi hostage? Because having Cathy come without Vivi is a world I don't want to live in." (1:24:56-1:25:08 | Christi)
• “Abby is going to deliver the line that literally is going to light, and I said this last week, every gas lantern in America. So all of you just raise your glasses in a universal toast because you are drinking to what is, not maybe, but definitively the biggest contradiction ever uttered in the history of Dance Moms." (1:34:43-1:35:12 | Christi)

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

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

We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

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

We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

"Let's get into the episode so we can bitch a lot! Yay, everyone wants to hear us bitch!" It's true, we can't get enough of it! And on Season 5's "The Great Divide" it turns out the other moms couldn't get enough of it either. With the ALDC back in Pittsburgh it doesn't take long for things to get heated as the fallout from the pretty disastrous trip to LA begin to pick apart what little group dynamic there was.

Jill is worried about how she's being perceived for siding with Abby during the MattyB shoot. While she did initially support Holly, Jill knows if she crosses Abby it'll only lead to Kendall getting retaliated against and sees her pivot to Team Abby as a natural choice. Of course that doesn't sit right with Holly, who feels not only betrayed but believes Jill and Melissa's kowtowing to Abby sets a bad example for the girls and dooms only Nia to failure when there would have been strength in numbers. But Holly decides it's time she rethink how she views her friendships with the moms, in order to at the very least avoid future heartbreak. This in turn only makes Jill more frustrated with the situation.

Abby is more concerned with the upcoming competition in New Jersey, which starts their teen division at age 12. This would mean the ALDC would have to compete against older dancers, and Abby doesn't think her girls stand a chance. In fact she makes clear that once one of her dancers enters the teen division, she no longer sees them as her student. Despite being an embarrassing admission of guilt in regards to her skillset ,the only person who'll suffer for it is Kalani who now has to sit out the group dance in order for the team to compete in the Junior category. Her consolation prize however is a solo with actually interesting and fresh choreography. Unfortunately Abby doesn't so easily forget when she feels wronged, and Nia in turn is presented with a very stale solo routine and isn't even given the dignity of having Abby pay attention to her rehearsal.

Quotes

• “...or a priest because it was obviously another immaculate reception. Wait what is it? Conception, not reception! I'm from Pittsburgh, the Immaculate Reception is what we care about more." (02:15-02:24 | Christi)
• “I can do anything I put my mind to Christi! I know, you don't give up Kelly. If there's one thing I know it's that you perceiver, especially in the name of alcohol." (04:24-04:33 | Christi & Kelly)
• “Kira attempts to show some appreciation of Holly's actions and gives her kudos for doing it. Huh, as long as Holly's got kudos she doesn't need anyone backing her up!" (1:22:47-1:22:57 | Christi)
• “Kira and Jill both told me at the reunion that they never watched the show before they were on it. Oh, ok and I'm a natural blonde. Get outta here!" (1:34:38-1:34:49 | Christi & 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

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

We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

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

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

We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

"You and I are white trash because we say the F-word, but Kira is better than that...she has a criminal record but whatever. She just said the F-word 10 times!" Well fortunately for our lovely Bitches, Kira is in the hot seat on the second half of "Wild Wild West Coast Pt 2." After a couple weeks of threats, Tracey is finally delivering on her promise to oust Kira from the ALDC by exposing her past legal troubles, but will it be enough to actually secure Sarah R a more permanent spot on the team over Kalani?

As the ALDC make their final LA hurrah at Starbound they run into a bit of a problem, their dances just aren't it! Between tired choreography and some out of date references, its hard to imagine any of the dances making a strong impression compared to the more intense LA dancers in attendance. Worst of all is the bizarre choice to paint JoJo and Mackenzie in black and white for their I Love Lucy homage, managing to make the two look more like corpses than Lucy and Ethel. To add insult to injury their music shuts off mid-performance... so is that just an intentional sabotage at this point? How did it keep happening!?

But while the girls are struggling to make some noise on stage, the moms certainly are making noise behind the scenes. Abby threatened that not all the girls would be returning to Pittsburgh with the ALDC, and Tracey decides the best way to make her case is by taking out the competition. She begins to hurl insults and accusations at Kira, bringing up not only the fact she'd been charged with fraud for running an eBay scheme, but also claims she was arrested for credit card fraud! Shouting of course ensues. But honestly? Abby still seems more upset over Holly's perceived betrayal from a few days prior, and technically the MattyB incident is still on the horizon because that stuff all goes down AFTER the competition. So for all of Tracey's efforts, it would seem she might have played her cards just a little too late, or maybe there really is not stopping the Kalani train if she's one of Abby's favorites.

Quotes

• “[The Bitchettes] know it's a good episode when you start talking in your Grover voice." (14:39-14:43 | Christi)
• “Jess says she's really sick of Abby going on and on about Maddie. Well Jess, girlfriend, you just got there eight episodes ago so buckle up." (18:48-18:57 | Christi & Kelly)
• “She cans hove Radio Disney up her ass, and Kelly really does means that!" (47:14-47:18 | Christi)
• “We lost to ourselves. It was made out that we lost to a better dance... that our kids did!" (49:49-49:59 | Christi)

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

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

Special thanks to Chad from Game of Roses for joining us for this episode. Listen wherever you find your favorite podcasts!!

We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

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

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

We're headed on the road in 2026! Buy tickets here:

https://www.x1entertainment.com/bttb

(Apologies for the audio this week, we're still figuring out recording while on tour!)

"I wish I had been on the show with Jess, she would have made me look like Gisele Bündchen." Christi at the very least is happy she didn't have to put up with Abby's nonsense from this week's episode. As Part II of "Wild Wild West Coast" gets underway, Abby is about to push one button too many.

Specifically Abby is fed up with the Matty B music video situation, and forbids Mackenzie from filming. After the other moms attempt to let their daughters film anyways, Abby threatens to sue and forbids all the girls from performing. Everyone is mad about the situation, but Melissa and Jill begrudgingly pull their daughters from the shoot. Holly is upset as this both sends the girls a wrong message about responsibility, but also robs them of the opportunities they came to pursue. Holly states Nia will still honor the contract, drawing Abby's ire.

Meanwhile the duets about feuds has brought out the rivalry between Kira and Tracey tenfold. We get some hard accusations from each side of the fight in this episode, and there is more tea we might soon reveal (hint hint, wink wink).

Quotes

• “Oh my god it's officially one year of Get Your Finger Out of My Face! Now it lives in infamy on every social media platform ever. How about the fact I got stopped in the airport for the [Get Your Finger Out of My Face] magnets!?" (09:07-09:18 | Christi)
• “This is obviously an opportunity Dance Moms the show has provided. Why are you pulling her? She does not give a good answer." (18:48-18:57 | Christi)
• “They're still willing to go along with what Abby says. Are you shocked? No. ARE YOU SHOCKED!? No, I'm surprised they didn't bring her a present." (24:23-1:24:30 | Christi & Kelly)
• “Is this the first time Jill referred to herself as an OG?" (29:21-29:26 | Christi)

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

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