Young 'Dance Moms' stars hope to help sick children with T-shirt proceeds

Maddie and Mackenzie Ziegler are just like any other 8- or 9-year-old girls. When it's nice outside, they want to run around the neighborhood with their friends. They play with their dog, paint their nails and try to avoid packing for family vacations. They still think boys not named Justin Beiber are gross.

But the Murrysville sisters have something many young girls long for — fame. And the young stars of Lifetime's reality TV show “Dance Moms” are trying to brighten the lives of those who admire them.

As StarPower ambassadors for Los Angeles-based Starlight Children's Foundation, the girls visit with children with life-threatening illnesses or injuries.

“A lot of the kids say they wish they were us,” said Maddie, 9. “It's nice that they say that. We want to do nice things for them, to make them smile.”

Maddie and Mackenzie — “Kenzie,” to family and friends — will put smiles on dozens of girls' faces next month with Maddie celebrates her 10th birthday with a birthday party in New York City to benefit Starlight Children's Foundation. Proceeds from the tickets, which range in price from $25 to $60, will go to the foundation. The party will take place during the launch for the T-shirts the girls designed for clothing line Purple Pixies. Five dollars from the sale of each shirt will go to the foundation.

“People say they look up to me,” Maddie said. “It's really awesome. I know this is going to be a really nice birthday, and we're all probably going to cry.”

Melissa Gisoni, the girls' mom, said she wants her daughters to learn to give back to their community and to those who don't have all of the opportunities the girls have.

The girls aren't strangers to volunteer work. Back when the girls had more free time, Gisoni regularly took them to local nursing homes to dance and visit with residents. Maddie said she always enjoyed giving the “girls” at the nursing home manicures.

“It feels really good (to help),” Maddie said. “People that are sick don't get the opportunities we've had. We want to help do what we can.”

It's been more than a year since the girls became celebrities as members of the Abby Lee Miller Dance Company's competition squad. “Dance Moms,” which is in its second season, follows the competition team across the country as the girls learn new dances each week.

Not a lot has changed since they started filming the show, the girls said. Most of their Sloan Elementary classmates watch the show — even the boys. Kenzie wrinkled her nose as she talked about several of the boys in her class commenting on her dancing.

“The boys treat us different now,” she said. “It's weird.”

The show requires the family to do a lot of travelling — nearly weekly trips to competitions have made them seasoned travelers. Gisoni said she appreciates how nice people are when they're travelling. The girls regularly get stopped for autographs at airports and in other cities, she said.

“We've really met so many kind people,” Gisoni said. “We try to be sweet and nice to people who we run into. And people are nice back to us, even with the lights and cameras in the way.”

Gisoni said she's proud of the maturity her daughters show and is amazed and how they've grown up in the past year.

“If my kids had to go on a job interview right now, they could,” Gisoni said. “I mean, they're 8 and 9. The show has really helped teach them how to act in public.”

Despite their poise and articulation in front of the camera, the girls are still growing up. Both are set to get braces in the next few weeks. Kenzie has a bit of shyness when she sings. But when she turned toward a wall, she could belt out a few lines of Adele's hit song “Rolling in the Deep.” Like most tweens, her future dreams change almost weekly, Gisoni joked. This week, Kenzie wants to be a star singer. Last week, it was a veterinarian.

But for now, the girls are fine with helping other children's dreams come true.

“I like that we get to help so many kids,” Maddie said. “They have such good attitudes.”

Kenzie agreed.

“It's awesome.”

Daveen Rae Kurutz is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-856-7400 ext. 8627 or dkurutz@tribweb.com.