Investigation Discovery; Hulu
Jon Benét Ramsey; Dance Moms: A New Era actor Ashlan
In episode 8 of A new era “Glo Don’t Give with Both Hands,” Studio Bleu is working on national screenings, and 11-year-old Ashlan and her mother Lisa want to make sure she gets a spot in the big end-of-season show. Glo directs Ashlan to dance to JonBenét Ramsey, telling the impressionable child only that Ramsey is “a beauty queen.”
Glo leaves Lisa and Ashlan to research “everything” about Ramsey, a child beauty queen who was murdered at just 6 years old. The case continues to fascinate and confound the public to this day. Lisa follows Glo’s instructions on how to do it, even giving Ashlan the timestamps of Ramsey’s murder investigation. Ashlan clearly imprints this memory in her mind to recount it to a series of therapists later in life.
Related topics: Meet the cast of Dance Moms: A New Era
Meanwhile, Ashlan, the voice of reason, notes that “they should have just locked the doors” to prevent Ramsey’s kidnapping and eventual murder. Despite the traumatic story, Ashlan is fully convinced by the play.
“Oh my God, this is really not for me, but I’ll do anything to win,” she says, embodying so much of what’s wrong with this show and, really, with all of America. Cut to rehearsals, and Ashlan is slapping her face like Margot Robbie’s Tonya Harding preparing to lose to Nancy Kerrigan.
Now you are probably wondering, Why a JonBenét routine? Good question. And there is no right answer. Glo simply explains that Ashlan’s lack of technique is compensated by her power, so she needs a Performance piece to get them to the state championships. And again, why exactly a 28-year-old unsolved case about the death of a child? Much like who killed JonBenét, we may never know.
But Glo wants Ashlan to grow into the role, giving her a motivation that’s far too complex for an 11-year-old, but one that she can still relate to: “Remember, it’s a really sad, tragic story. So you’re playing this little kid who’s been put on display in all these beauty pageants, and your parents want that fame and celebrity for you. But is that what they really want?”
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While Ashlan rehearses, the dance moms talk shit about her and her blatant lack of technique. “Why are we wasting all this time? We know what’s going to happen. Ashlan is going to have a nervous breakdown. She’s going to screw it up on stage,” one mom remarks.
As the show begins, Ashlan does her best to sell a performance that, as viewers noticed, had literally nothing to do with JonBenét Ramsey.