Gianna Martello On Dance Moms, Choregraphy, and Social Media Backlash

You were also a competitive dancer before you were a part of the faculty. How has the dance world changed in the last decade alone?

I feel like the kids are so much better today since when I danced and I had a competitive group. People probably don’t know this but I grew up dancing at the ALDC. I had a group of five or six girls that Abby took under her wing and took around the country to compete. At the time, we were winning, but I would show my girls my videos and they’ll say, “You guys weren’t that good.” The caliber, the training, and the outlets now, there are so many opportunities for dancers. Dance is becoming huge. Kids are way better today than they were 10 years ago.

Now that social media is a big part of the entertainment community, do you find there’s more pressure on dancers to be and look perfect, on and off stage?

I think there’s pressure on every dancer, let alone the ones with millions of people that are watching. It’s not just the three judges [watching anymore]. I think they have the most pressure on them. There’s so much room for criticism, for people to talk, and outlets to say whatever they want. Whenever I danced, any footage or videos [only] ended up on VHS. Now, there’s a solo of one of our girls and it’s immediately on social media. That video is everywhere in one minute.

You’ve seen a lot of the girls on the show start incredible fan bases around the world: Maddie Ziegler and Chloe Lukasiak, for instance. You also have more than 1 million followers on Instagram. How do you handle your fame and social media presence and what kind of example do you hope to set for your girls?

I know my fan base is children so I’m more aware of my Instagram and Twitter. I’ll monitor it but I won’t hide anything. I’m keeping my social media age appropriate because I want to keep them involved.

I know that we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs with social media. I remember a point in Maddie [Ziegler’s] life – in season one and two – when things weren’t so positive. I remember it being really hard for them. They are such strong girls. We just wouldn’t read the comments. We would say, “There are so many other people out there. You have to look past this and be stronger than those people.” Now she’s older and things have turned around on her social media.