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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Dance Moms: A New Era, premiering Wednesday on Hulu, follows Gloria "Miss Glo" Hampton as she coaches the Junior Elite class at her Ashburn, Va., Studio Bleu. Hampton is a friend of the notoriously strict Abby Lee Miller, the original Dance Mom coach, and appeared in a few episodes of the original series in 2013. The popular reality show, which launched the careers of Jojo Siwa and Maggie Ziegler, ran for nine seasons starting in 2011.
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Hampton told UPI recently that the dance coaches have different styles.
"I teach from a place of love and respect with my students," she said. "I encourage them to use their voice and to be vocal."
Hampton said she and Miller have grown distant, but she still considers her a dear friend. She invited Miller to appear on the show, but she respectfully declined.
"Abby's an amazing teacher who knows a lot about dance," Hampton said.
The New Era dance coach said she allowed cameras into Studio Bleu to showcase her students. Hampton hopes the attention will help her students' budding careers.
"They are all stars in their own right, all very different but just so special," Hampton said. "They deserve every bit of recognition."
As the show is called Dance Moms, Hampton must contend with her students' mothers. This season, some moms blame one girl for not helping her classmates with the routine, and others call Hampton toxic.
"A lot of the time, the kids are like, 'Mom, be quiet. Mom, get out,'" Hampton said. "I've typically been able to calm the parents to a point of trusting me and letting them guide their children."
Hampton said misbehaving parents are not limited to the dance studio. Hampton said any children's activity can bring out parents' possessive and aggressive sides.
"We've seen the dads go after the soccer refs," Hampton said.
On Dance Moms: A New Era, Bellatrix's mother, Roxce, gets a lot of screen time for complaining about Hampton.
"Dance mom Roxce, I think, is the most vocal and I think the most, as the kids say, delulu," Hampton said.
"Delulu" is short for delusional, which Hampton learned from her students.
"It's a new TikTok term, apparently," Hampton said. "I'm not hip to it, either, but I pretend."
The cameras follow the Junior Elites to real competitions and capture victories and defeats. Hampton said the defeats motivated the class to train harder for the next competition.
"You'll see it in my reactions," Hampton said. "You'll see it even in the kids' reactions because they know when they've disappointed me or disappointed themselves."
Hampton is the mother of dancer Kaeli Ware. In A New Era, Hampton opens up about the stillbirth of her son 25 years earlier and dedicates a dance to his memory.
"I always want him to be remembered but this is definitely the first time I've ever put out a dance specifically honoring him," Hampton said. "It was really special and I appreciate that I was able to do that."
