Observing Communication

The show I picked to watch was not a show of my choice. My 12 year old daughter loves to watch Dance Moms and that was what I had the pleasure of not listening to at first. The character’s relationships based on the ways in which they are communicating is quite impressive in this show. The girls that actually dance in the show have very little communication with each other except when they dance. It is amazing to see how the girls understand and know the other without even talking to each other. Granted most of the show is about the mother’s and Abby. If you ever take time to watch the girls communicate to each other, especially when they dance then you noticed how they communicate. They are unable to talk while they are dancing and their dancing is how they communicate. I was impressed with how I saw the show when the volume was off. I noticed more about the girls dancing and how they were dancing then I did when the volume was on. The show does focus on the mother’s and you can always tell what they are feeling and expressing based on their nonverbal behavior. Body language is so powerful and that is what makes a reality show intense and exciting so some. When you see people become emotionally attached or detached from others it somehow makes us want to see more. It is disturbing to me I do not really like this reality show. The main part of the show should be on the children dancing, which is a beautiful representation of elegant art and dance. When you watch the show without sound and you see the anger, frustration, and sadness in the mother’s faces you begin to wonder why they are so upset. Their children are dancing, why are you mad? This question goes over and over in my mind as I watch the show without sound. The facial gestures are often of despair, the only time I see happiness is when the girls are on stage winning the dance contest. The assumptions that I made about the characters and plot based on the ways in which I interpreted the communication was right on. I saw the children dancing and enjoying themselves for the most part. One time a child started to cry in the arms of her mother and I was unsure why, but it was because she did not have a solo part. I then later on saw the girl give another girl a hug. This was because one girl received the solo and the other did not and she was wishing her good luck. The body language from the girls in the show and the nonverbal communication from the girls was pleasant and heart-warming especially when they danced. The mother’s nonverbal communication was very apparent and obvious that they were upset. What they were upset about was unknown without the sound. The nonverbal communication just let you know that they were upset and angry most of the time. I could not base an assumption on what the plot was based off of the nonverbal communication, only that it wasn’t good. If I knew the show well then I would have been able to have understood the nonverbal communication between the mothers. My daughter watches the show all the time and she described the animosity between certain mother’s and why they did not like Abby and some of the other moms. The nonverbal communication was clear and obvious; you are just unable to understand why they were so upset and angry. It is amazing to watch shows without sound. My dad does this often because he is partially deaf and he uses closed caption. He tells me that it is easier to watch TV without the sound and just to read the closed caption. He said you find out what shows are truly really good to watch. I never thought of that before and I never understood why he said that until I watched a show without sound.