Auction set for Abby Lee Dance Co.'s Penn Hills studio memorabilia
The beginning of the end for the Abby Lee Miller Dance Co. studio in Penn Hills has begun.
On Feb. 8, almost everything in the studio will be auctioned off to buyers. The site was the predominant backdrop of the popular Lifetime network reality TV series “Dance Moms.”
Murrysville-based Cleanout Krew collaborated with Bill Anderson Auctioneers to host the online auction. Items for sale include costumes used by previous dancers, props featured in televised numbers, Abby Lee Miller Dance Co. merchandise and training equipment.
After seeing the studio packed on Friday, Miller had an emotional reaction.
“I am so proud of the way the studio looks after 37 years,” Miller said via videoconference. “There’s a little wear and tear, but I think it still looks great. I pounded pavement creating a lot of that stuff. Creating props, being in New York and Los Angeles searching for the perfect fabric for a costume. Before there was the internet and Amazon, you had to go find that stuff. I did that, you know?”
Miller appeared on the show for seven seasons until 2017, when she was arrested and charged with bankruptcy and fraud. The reality star served a year in federal prison after pleading guilty in federal court.
In 2021, Miller made headlines again when she filed a lawsuit against American Airlines and Pittsburgh International Airport after claiming that an employee of the airport dropped her while transferring her from one wheelchair to another after a 2019 flight.
Members of Cleanout Krew team anticipate some items will be more popular than others. This includes a prop bench that was gifted to Miller by former Dance Moms cast member Jill Vertes, who returned to the studio to sign the bench before the auction.
“I think every single one of them (cast members) should have shown up and signed something, so I’m glad that Jill did,” Miller said. “She had a lot more class than most and she stopped in – she had given me the bench, she was hilarious and then she signed it.”
Other “big ticket items” include a large silver spoon used in a televised performance, and the studio’s mailbox that was featured in almost every episode of the show. Cleanout Krew members will be filling the mailbox with mystery items for the winning bidder.
Cleanout Krew owner Aaron Haney said that the auction had already gained popularity before the company’s preview Friday.
“This is a worldwide auction,” Haney said. “We have international shipping and international bidding. We’ve been contacted from Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Philippines and more. I’ve gotten personal phone calls from these countries asking about the items being sold.”
Miller decided to have the auction as one last farewell to fans after the studio was sold to Krise Transportation, which intends to use the space as a training center for bus drivers.
“When I sold the company, it happened so quickly and sort of randomly, and there is so much stuff in there,” Miller said. “I’d love to keep everything in there right next to me and under my pillow but I can’t. So I thought, there are people, kids, adults – we have a huge demographic from the age of five to 85 that are obsessed with the show. This is a big grand gesture, a big way to say goodbye and do it right.”
Proceeds from the auction will be going to Dancers Against Cancer, a nonprofit that facilitates members of the dance community to provide financial assistance to dance educators, dancers and family members impacted by cancer. Miller was helped by the nonprofit when her former student, JoJo Siwa and members of Dancers Against Cancer presented her with $10,000 to help pay for Miller’s medical bills.
Despite the positive impact of the auction, Miller expressed her sadness that one of her former students had not bought the studio.
“I was actually surprised that one of the kids didn’t step in and buy it,” Miller said. “I really thought that. That’s where they started. If it wasn’t for that building right there, that observation mezzanine, they’d probably be at home, going to a local college and sitting on the couch with their boyfriend.”
During the auction preview, Miller reminisced about the effect that “Dance Moms” had on Pittsburgh and the dance competition community.
“It definitely put Pittsburgh on the map in a different light,” Miller said. “We were always known for sports and the hospitals, the medical breakthroughs in Pittsburgh. It wasn’t really known for the arts. I think ‘Dance Moms’ showed the sights of Pittsburgh week after week to all different countries and definitely showed a really nice, beautiful part of Pittsburgh to the world.”
She also spoke highly of her former students that did not make appearances on the show, saying some are now performing on Broadway and others have made waves in the dancing community since their departure from the studio. Miller added that their names deserved to be known despite their lack of television notoriety, saying they hadn’t made the show because their mothers were “nice and sweet.”
Cleanout Krew members have worked with Miller for six months to pack up the studio and arrange for the auction. The 12-day sale will be similar to bidding on eBay. Buyers are able to put in a presale offer for items. At 7 p.m. on Feb. 8, the auction will go live with active bidding. The sale catalog is available at hibidportal.com.
Haley Daugherty is a TribLive reporter covering local politics, feature stories and Allegheny County news. A native of Pittsburgh, she lived in Alabama for six years. She joined the Trib in 2022 after graduating from Chatham University. She can be reached at hdaugherty@triblive.com.
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