Latest news with #DanceXpressions
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Viral video shows dance coach hugging team after win - except the Black team member
A dance studio has gone viral after a mom posted a TikTok of a coach hugging every member of a dancing group — except her daughter, the only Black student. Melissa Breglia shared a video on TikTok on March 24 showing a dance teacher from Dance Xpressions in Plainville, Connecticut, walking onto a stage at a dance competition to congratulate four young girls. The coach then hugged three of the four girls standing on stage, excluding only Breglia's daughter, six-year-old Shaniah. The video has garnered more than four million views. 'It absolutely breaks my heart to watch this,' Breglia wrote on TikTok. 'Shaniah came off stage devastated! Why would a 'teacher' treat a child so poorly!' Commenters were quick to agree with Breglia. 'Wow, that was super disturbing to watch,' one user commented, receiving more than 12,000 likes. 'Momma… please read the room,' another said, earning 31,000 likes. 'It wasn't just 'rude' it was a micro-aggression. Please get her out before it gets bad.' Breglia told NBC Boston that her six-year-old was devastated when she came off the stage. 'Shaniah came up to me, and said, 'Mommy, how come [the coach] didn't give me a hug? She hugged everybody else,'' Breglia said. 'She said, 'Mommy, I did all my moves, I smiled the whole time…and I didn't get a hug, but they did.'' Breglia then approached the coach backstage. 'I went up to [her] and said, 'How dare you? How dare you make my child feel less than?'' Breglia recounted to NBC Boston. 'She instantly stiffened up and said, 'I didn't do anything, why are you yelling at me?'' 'I said, 'you had her standing on the stage alone. She leaned in to hug you, and you side-stepped her.' She said, 'I didn't do that. I didn't do anything to her,'' Breglia continued. Shaniah was later removed from the program, Breglia told NBC Boston. 'I got a letter…dismissing my child, my children, from the program. That I had been aggressive with staff,' Breglia said. 'At no point in time was there a conversation about your actions, an apology towards my daughter, there was no acknowledgement that anything was wrong.' 'I would like her held accountable. I would like to make sure that other children don't go through the same thing,' she continued. Phyllis Boucher, owner of Dance Xpressions, said she's 'deeply saddened' by the 'recent misunderstanding.' "Our instructor sincerely believed she had embraced all the students, including Shaniah, and was unaware of the oversight,' Boucher said. 'Following the competition, concerns were raised by Shaniah's family regarding the incident. Our instructor immediately addressed the situation by apologizing to Shaniah, expressing that the exclusion was unintentional and never meant to cause hurt.' 'Over the past years, we have worked to support all our dancers and their families, including Shaniah and her sister,' she added. 'After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to part ways with the family, as we strive to maintain a positive and respectful environment for all members of our studio community.' The Independent has contacted Breglia for comment. The Independent was unable to contact Dance Xpressions for comment, as the studio did not answer the phone, and its voicemail box was full. Their social media accounts also appear to have been deleted.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Internet is Outraged With a Connecticut Dance Coach Who Shuns Biracial Student in Now-Viral Video
A Connecticut dance mom is furious by how her biracial daughter was treated by a coach at a dance competition. And as she shares her frustration with the teacher and the studio on social media, a now-viral video of the exchange has thousands of other people just as heated. In a video, Nadia Boucher, a coach at Dance Xpressions in Plainville, Connecticut, is seen rushing the stage after her students compete in the Headliners dance competition. She gets down on her knees to scoop three of her white students up in a hug. When a fourth student, who is biracial, reaches out to hug Boucher, she gives her the cold shoulder and backs away. But don't worry, Boucher's actions didn't go unnoticed. 'That was rude,' someone in the audience can be heard saying in the clip. You can watch the exchange yourself ">here: The dancer's mom, Melissa Breglia, shared her frustration with the coach and the dance studio in an emotional Facebook post. 'It absolutely breaks my heart to watch this... Shaniah came off stage devastated! Why would a 'teacher' treat a child so poorly!' she wrote. 'My daughter deserves an apology and I will continue to share this until THEY FEEL AS BADLY AS SHANIAH DID!! And the studio feels justified and released a statement to the team parents as if it was MY FAULT!! I STAND WITH MY DAUGHTER!' Thousands of others were there to stand with Shaniah as well, calling out Boucher's bad behavior in the comments. 'That was rude as hell, how can someone treat a child like that, shame on her,' someone wrote. Since she posted the video, Breglia gave viewers an update on the situation in the comments, telling them that she has since pulled her daughters out of Dance Xpressions. Breglia says that while Shaniah and her sister are heartbroken since they've left, the director of the dance studio has ignored her requests to talk about what happened. 'Im glad everyone gets to see the truth... unfortunately I get to wipe the tears from my kids faces because they worked so hard all year to have their passion ripped from them... They refused to even have a conversation today when I called the director, she hung up in my face. As if she didn't make THOUSANDS off of my family...' she wrote. Reading Breglia's heartbreaking message left other parents ready to get in formation to make sure the teacher and the studio are held accountable. 'Melissa Breglia maam let us know the name of the gym, my daughter does competitive cheer so I know first hand how this must've felt.. WE RIDE AT DAWNNNN!!!!!' someone wrote in the comments. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
