Lifetime’s popular reality series Dance Moms has expanded to Florida and one of the two instructors at Miami’s STARS Dance Studio hoping to fill the shoes of Pittsburgh drama matriarch Abby Lee Miller is 23-year-old Victor Smalley. (Watch the trailers here!)
Born and raised in Miami, Victor first put on his dancing shoes at the age of 14. According to his Lifetime bio, Victor “started as a Liturgical dancer, and his passion for this genre led him to train in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Lyrical and Contemporary dance. In 2005, he performed with the ‘Friends of Time Dance Company’ in Dallas, and this first experience performing in front of an audience of thousands was the springboard for his dance career.”
But Victor’s big break first big break came when he competed on Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance, where he finished as a finalist and was able to work with choreographers Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, Tyce DiOrio, Travis Wall, and Stacey Tookey, among others.
We did a little digging online and uncovered a number of Victor Smalley’s promotional photos from So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 (scattered throughout this post) as well as a number of video clips, this tribute video made by a fan at the time:
Abby Lee Miller’s shoes may be hard to fill, but I can guarantee they’re not badass multi-colored florescent high-top sneakers! I can also guarantee that no matter how much digging you do you’re not going to turn up a tribute video to Abby’s appearance on So You Think You Can Dance! (Although you might have some luck looking for old clips from So You Think You Can Intimidate And Make Headlines.)
In this next clip Victor talks with fellow competitor Mollee about what inspired him to become a dancer and what it was like making it as a finalist on SYTYCD:
In what is sure to be an emotional flashback for Victor, here he is with dance partner KAren talking about their elimination after their tango performance in the Top 12:
And here are lots of great promotional studio pictures of Victor Smalley from his stint on Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance followed by some more video clips of his performances. (Click thumbnails to enlarge)
Want more Victor Smalley? Be sure to tune in to Dance Moms Miami tonight at 10:30/9:30c after the Dance Moms season finale. After this week, Dance Moms: Miami will air Tuesday nights at 9/8c.
