Robyn Von Swank
November 30, 2016
In The Mix

Dance Mom

Sarah Hirsch

Her hip-hop dance videos on YouTube have been watched a cumulative 192 million times.

Her most popular routine, set to Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money,” has logged more than 44 million views alone.

But choreographer Tricia Miranda — known for her hard-hitting routines — doesn’t appear in any of her viral videos. Six years ago she took a decided turn toward working behind the scenes.

But that’s all about to change. Going Off, the MTV reality competition show premiering early next year, puts the camera back on Miranda. The series follows her as she teaches and mentors the dancers she lovingly refers to as her kids.

Filmed at Millennium Dance Complex in North Hollywood, where Miranda’s YouTube videos are also shot, the dancers compete for prizes, like a direct booking for a job or the chance to bypass a cattle call for a private audition.

Miranda views her classes as more than dance instruction — they’re like a seminar on how to make it in the industry. “I teach you how to audition, how to dress, and what jobs you should and shouldn’t go for,” she states.

She also teaches her students when not to give up. “Tricia always tells us, ‘Don’t cut yourself before the choreographer cuts you,’” says one of her assistants, Darrion Gallegos.

And when a dancer does get cut? “They need to know that they are right for something,” Miranda says, “but they’re not going to be right for everything.”

Born in Arizona, Miranda moved to L.A. at 21 to pursue a fulltime career as a dancer. She worked five jobs, mostly as a dance instructor, before getting her big break three years later: a spot on a Beyoncé tour. She went on to dance with Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Usher and Prince, before she began to notice that she spent most of her time at auditions scouting other dancers for her own routines.

“We were all fighting for the same job,” Miranda remembers, “but I wasn’t there for myself anymore.” So she stopped performing to transition into choreography. That may lead eventually to directing.

“Someday, maybe, I’ll have a baby,” she muses. “And maybe I’ll try to fit in getting married. But these [students] are my kids right now. And I feel like what I do best is mentor them and mold them into the stars that they already are.”


This article originally appeared in emmy magazine, Issue No. 10, 2016

Browser Requirements
The TelevisionAcademy.com sites look and perform best when using a modern browser.

We suggest you use the latest version of any of these browsers:

Chrome
Firefox
Safari


Visiting the site with Internet Explorer or other browsers may not provide the best viewing experience.

Close Window