The video has gone viral showing a dance coach at a competition in Hartford hugging a group of dancers after accepting an award, but not hugging the one Black student in the group.
A video from a dance competition in Hartford last week has gone viral. The video shows a dance coach hugging a group of dancers after accepting an award, but not hugging the one Black student in the group.
The dance studio is called Dance Xpressions and is located in Plainville.
Melissa Breglia is the mother of 6-year-old Shaniah, the dancer who was left out of the hug.
“[The coach] gave everybody else a hug except for Shaniah,” Breglia said. “Shaniah came up to me, and said, mommy, how come [the coach] didn’t give me a hug? She hugged everybody else. She said, 'mommy, I did all my moves, I smiled the whole time…and I didn’t get a hug, but they did.'”
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Breglia said she approached the dance coach in a dressing room after the incident.
“I went up to [her] and said, 'how dare you? How dare you make my child feel less than?' 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.'”
After the competition, Breglia said she worried she had overreacted, until another audience member sent her a video of the interaction on stage.
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Breglia posted it to her TikTok, and it has been viewed more than four million times.
“Afterwards I really thought that I was overreacting in what I saw, until I saw the video and realized everything I’m feeling is valid, and everything my daughter is feeling is valid,” Breglia said.
The dance studio now has dozens of negative reviews on Yelp from people all over the country. Their social media accounts can no longer be found, and their phone’s voicemail was full when NBC Connecticut attempted to reach them.
Breglia said her daughters were removed from the program.
“I got a letter…dismissing my child, my children, from the program. That I had been aggressive with staff,” she 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,” Breglia continued.
She said her video has reached people all over the world. While they now look for a new dance studio, she said her family is grateful for the outpouring of support.
“This has reached globally. I have had people from Australia, Germany, UK, Ghana reach out to me, and just say, please hug that little girl and tell her that you have support, you have people that want to give you a hug," Breglia said.
Dance Xpressions owner Phyllis Boucher released a statement about the incident on Thursday.
"We at Dance Xpressions are deeply saddened by the recent misunderstanding that occurred during a dance competition. It has come to our attention that one of our dancers, Shaniah, was unintentionally not included in a group hug on stage. Our instructor sincerely believed she had embraced all the students, including Shaniah, and was unaware of the oversight. 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. Emotions were understandably high, and efforts were made to move the discussion to a private setting to ensure a productive conversation. Over the past years, we have worked to support all our dancers and their families, including Shaniah and her sister. 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. These decisions are never made lightly, and we recognize the impact they can have. We would like to take this opportunity to once again extend our sincere apologies to Shaniah for the unintentional oversight. Dance Xpressions remains committed to fostering an inclusive, welcoming space for all dancers. We are saddened by any misrepresentation of our studio and the challenges that have followed. However, our focus remains on providing a supportive and nurturing experience for every dancer who walks through our doors."
