Dance Moms‘ star Nia Sioux has recently branched out from dancing and has launched new careers in acting and in music.

Nia Sioux On Recent Career Moves

Sioux is currently starring in the off-Broadway musical Trip of Love, in which she plays a college coed in the 1960s, who is immersed in the music and dance culture of the era. Among her favorite 60s-inspired numbers in the musical are set to the tune of classic songs “Moon River,” These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,’ and “I Saw Her Standing There.”

“Moon River” – that’s a duet that I do with my partner Brandon and it’s ballet – that has to be one of my favorites,” Sioux told uInterview in an exclusive interview.  “I’m in ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ and also I think the one that they said I was featured in was ‘I Saw Her Standing There.’ Those are like the three main ones that I’m in, so I love all of them, but my favorite would have to be ‘Moon River.'”

Sioux, who is accustomed to performing solo dance numbers, had to get out of her comfort zone for the off-Broadway show, as it was required that she do some partner dancing.

“I think that’s the hardest part because I’m not used to partnering and especially when the boys are lifting you up and twirling you around and you have heels on – I have three-inch heels on most of the time – and they’re just tossing you and throwing you and I feel really bad sometimes because I hit the boys in the face sometimes,” Sioux revealed. “I’m not used to it.”

In addition to her off-Broadway debut, Sioux is watching her singing career take off. She currently has three songs out, two of which have music videos. Her single “Star In Your Own Life” has 8 million views on YouTube, while track “Slay” is at 3 million and climbing.

As she continues to grow her career in entertainment, the sky is the limit for Sioux, who has set Broadway as for a major goal.

“I love to perform and entertain people, so whether it’s singing or acting I just wanna keep on doing what I do — what I love to do,” said Sioux. “No matter what it is. I could have a solo career, which is going on stage doing lots of performances, going on tour, but also what I’m doing right now on the Off-Broadway stage in Trip of Love — I’ve always wanted to be on Broadway.”

This is all possible perhaps in spite of Abby Lee Miller, the Dance Moms instructor, who is now in legal trouble. According to Sioux, she had to fight for her right to pursue other avenues outside of the dance studio made famous by the reality TV show.

“She is just a character so I don’t know what it is — I mean she can be nice and I’ve seen her be nice but I guess it’s just when she’s in the mood to be nice. Whenever she’s in the mood she can be nice but whenever she’s not then,” Sioux shared with uInterview. “Whenever I started doing music was the hardest year I had with Abby because she really wanted to control me and tell me what to do and I had people helping me with my music and she wasn’t really happy about that. She just wanted to control the whole thing and I wanted to do what I wanted to do.”

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Q: What is your role in Trip of Love? -

I am a college student that gets swept away by the fun, the culture and the music and dance from the 60s.

Q: What is your favorite musical number? -

Actually, I’m in half the numbers in Trip of Love. But, the main three that I like and featured in are “Moon River” – and that’s a duet that I do with my partner Brandon and it’s ballet and that has to be one of my favorites. I’m in “These Boots Are Made For Walkin” and also I think the one that they said I was featured in was “I Saw Her Standing There.” Those are like the three main ones that I’m in, so I love all of them, but my favorite would have to be “Moon River,” especially since Jimmy, the choreographer and the director, he helped me so much with it and actually re-choreographed it so that I can do more and have a bigger story for the routine.

Q: What has been the most challenging part of the role? -

I would have to say the partnering. I think that’s the hardest part because I’m not used to partnering and especially when the boys are lifting you up and twirling you around and you have heels on – I have three-inch heels on most of the time – and they’re just tossing you and throwing you and I feel really bad sometimes because I hit the boys in the face sometimes and I feel really bad. I’m not used to it.

Q: What is it like working with Abby Lee Miller on Dance Moms? -

She is just a character so I don’t know what it is — I mean she can be nice and I’ve seen her be nice but I guess it’s just when she’s in the mood to be nice. Whenever she’s in the mood she can be nice but whenever she’s not then…

Whenever I started doing music was the hardest year I had with Abby because she really wanted to control me and tell me what to do and I had people helping me with my music and she wasn’t really happy about that. She just wanted to control the whole thing and I wanted to do what I wanted to do. She said that I was sneaking, going behind her back, using her friends and I was like ‘Okay, well that’s over excessive because that’s not what happened at all!’ She actually tried to bribe the person, Aubrey O’Day, who was working with me. She bribed her to not do a song with me and that had to be one of the hardest moments for me as a person dealing with someone — especially Abby. It shocked me but it also didn’t, but that had to be the hardest moment ever.

Q: Are you working on new music? -

I have three songs that are out right now and two of them have music videos. My first one, “Star in Your Own Life,” already hit...is it eight million now? I think eight million views on YouTube and “Slay” just hit almost three million I think. My last song that I have right now is called “DJ Fav” and I did that for a movie soundtrack called High Strung — and it’s a dance movie. It’s a really fun song and I performed it at their premiere for the movie, so that had a cool story behind it. I’m also working on more music, I already have two songs and they’re ballads and I can’t wait for everyone to see them because they will be on the show and you guys can see it soon. Not yet — it’ll be later but I can’t wait for everyone to actually see me doing a ballad because they always see me doing fun, high-energy songs, but this is more slow and it tells more of a story.

Q: What are your future career goals? -

I love to perform and entertain people, so whether it’s singing or acting I just wanna keep on doing what I do — what I love to do. No matter what it is. I could have a solo career, which is going on stage doing lots of performances, going on tour, but also what I’m doing right now on Off-Broadway stage in Trip of Love — I’ve always wanted to be on Broadway. So, this was an amazing experience for me and I was so thrilled to get this offer.