1 week ago
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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.
