The Next Step is basically Dance Moms meets Glee meets a Canadian teen soap opera. If your kid is into dance, they'll probably love the performances and choreography, which are genuinely well-done. The problem is that the show spends more time on who's dating whom and which team member betrayed which other team member than on the actual artistry of dance.
It's safe and age-appropriate for tweens, but it's also... a lot of drama. Like, SO much drama. The mockumentary format (think The Office but with teenagers and pirouettes) at least helps kids understand what characters are thinking and feeling, which has some emotional intelligence value.
If you've got a dance-obsessed 10-12 year old, this will probably hit the spot. It's clean, it's entertaining enough, and the dance sequences are legitimately impressive. Just be prepared for your kid to suddenly care deeply about fictional studio rivalries and who kissed whom at Nationals. It's not going to change anyone's life, but it's a solid middle-of-the-road pick for the tween crowd.




