A dance routine on the series Dance Moms: A New Era has garnered controversy over a dance number based on late murder victim JonBenét Ramsey.
The routine, performed by dancer Ashlan Scheide, 11, included a shocking sequence in which the young dancer mimicked that she had been strangled.
A number of people were outraged over a routine that was based off Ramsey, who was tragically found dead at the age of six-years-old at her Boulder, Colorado home in 1996.
The case, which garnered national attention, has not ever had any arrests linked to it, and the child’s murder hasn’t ever been solved.
In a sequence on the program, Ashlan’s mother Lisa told her, ‘You’re going to be a glitz pageant girl – that’s who JonBenét was, but then she got kidnapped and murdered.
A dance routine on the series Dance Moms: A New Era has garnered controversy over a dance number based on late murder victim JonBenét Ramsey. The routine, performed by dancer Ashlan Scheide, 11, included a shocking sequence in which the young dancer mimicked that she had been strangled.
A number of people were outraged over a routine that was based off Ramsey, who was tragically found dead at the age of six-years-old at her Boulder, Colorado home in 1996
Ashlan said she was unnerved by the information about the case surrounding Ramsey, but was willing to follow instruction to prevail in the competition.
‘This is really not for me, but I’ll do anything for the win,’ Ashlan said.
In the episode, Ashlan was seen going over the routine with her dance teacher Gloria Hampton.
A number of viewers were outraged by what they had seen on the series, which streams on Hulu.
‘I was like, “I’m sorry what” – I was like, “That’s ridiculous,”‘ Evie Nagy, a viewer of the program, told Inside Edition on Thursday.
Hampton told Inside Edition about her background and creative process in a recent interview.
‘I’ve been doing this for years,’ Hampton told the outlet. ‘Last season we took 450 dances to a dance competition for five weeks and then at nationals. So I’m used to doing costuming for thousands of children and 450 dances.
She added, ‘Music, I am really inspired by music. I think it leads me to what I want to do. I hear something and I get inspired by that and I have a vision. It is interesting. I really have a vision in my head when I hear something that I like.’
Ashlan said she was unnerved by the information about the case surrounding Ramsey, but was willing to follow instruction to prevail in the competition
In a sequence on the program, Ashlan’s mother Lisa told her, ‘You’re going to be a glitz pageant girl – that’s who JonBenét was, but then she got kidnapped and murdered’
The Ramsey case, which garnered national attention, has not ever had any arrests linked to it, and the child’s murder hasn’t ever been solved
Outraged reactions to dance number
A number of users took to X/Twitter to sound off on the controversial dance routine.
One user said, ‘I’m outraged by episode of Dance Mom’s! They had a girl portraying John Bennett Ramsey and end of dances finishes with girl strangling herself & running off! Omg so damn disrespectful!’
Another user said, ‘Say WHAT??????? Sick.’
One user asked, ‘Who the hell thought something so tragic and despicable would be a good idea to perform?’
A user said that the segment ‘has to be the most disgusting example of child exploitation on prime time tv.’
The user added, ‘We have become a disgusting society using the actual murder of a child for entertainment,’ declaring, ‘Shame on everyone associated with this, including the pedophiles who enjoy it.’
Another user asked, ‘Who would be that stupid?’ to compose such a dance routine based on the subject matter.
A number of users took to X/Twitter to sound off on the controversial dance routine
The discussion continued on Reddit , where one user said the segment came off as ‘extremely disturbing’
The discussion continued on Reddit, where one user said the segment came off as ‘extremely disturbing.’
Said the user, ‘I feel with cases like Jonbenet and Gypsy Rose where the cases are incredibly public, several documentaries and movies made about them…people start to blur the lines and forget these are actual real life children.
‘I think a dance about Jonbenet could never truly be done in taste. Simply because there is no happy ending, it’s just emphasizing a horrific murder of a child.’
The user said that organizers ‘could’ve easily done a beauty pageant routine without exploiting Jonbenets murder.’
Another user expressed confusion about the routine itself, asking, ‘How was the audience supposed to deduce that was about JonBenet Ramsey? It was weird.’
