Robin Antin is back in the reality TV world, this time with a new show based out of her Los Angeles dance studio, Playground.
Known for its iconic red lettering and world-renowned dancers and choreographers, Playground has become one of the top professional studios in the United States.
“All of a sudden, we started seeing Play, Play, Play pop up,” Antin, the studio owner and creator of iconic girl group The Pussycat Dolls, tells DECIDER. “We thought, ‘Wow, this is the first thing out there, so it must be getting a lot of attention around the world. ’ We thought, obviously, reality TV is a great way to expand the brand and expand awareness and attention to the world and all the younger generations, who obviously want to dance.”
Now, with a new show premiering today on Hulu, the Playground name will be making its way into homes around the world.
A perfect blend of Island of love Satisfies Dance MomsThere’s more than enough love, fights, and drama to fill the Playground studio, with the cast dancing throughout. DECIDER sat down with Antin to get the inside scoop on what fans can expect to see on the show, how The Pussycat Dolls are incorporated into everything she does, and details about her new friendship with executive producer Megan Thee Stallion.
DECIDER: This studio has been around for seven years. Did you always know you wanted to do a show about it or was it a recent inspiration?
Robin Antin: We’ve been talking about it for the last few years, it didn’t come out of nowhere. We just thought it would be cool to do a reality show because it would show the world [more of what] They’re already seeing it out there, like when they open Instagram and look at their Explore page. All of a sudden, we started seeing Play, Play, Play popping up and we were like, “Wow, that’s the first thing that pops up, so it must be getting a lot of attention around the world.” We thought, obviously, reality TV is a great way to expand the brand and expand awareness and attention to the world and all the younger generations, obviously, who want to dance.
I’ve been dancing my whole life, but I’m a real inspiration to a lot of women, men, and all genders who have never danced in their lives and want to come and learn how to dance. We came up with a beginner hip-hop class or a beginner heels class where you can learn without ever having taken a dance class or never having danced in your life. And we thought that by putting it out there in the world, everyone should know that dance is a form of expression. That you can feel at your worst, depressed or sad or whatever, but you walk into a dance class and you sweat and you have a lot of fun. No judgment.
That’s what Playground is, no judgement. We don’t expect anyone to be the best of the best, and yet we have the best of the best, because Playground became so popular because all of a sudden the best dancers came along, the best choreographers came to us. [the] The best teachers ask us, “We’d love to teach there, we’d love to be a part of your and Kenny’s experience.” [Wormald] “journey” and that’s really true. This is a combination of, we let everyone dance together.
I’ve always said that Alexis is one of my all-time favorite dancers, she’s an absolute blast. She’s someone who blows me away. And then Deanna is someone I’ve always believed in, more than a lot of other people, just because I know that she’s worked so hard and she’s trying so hard to be the best. It’s in her DNA. It’s all about confidence, even for me. I’ll go take a dance class like the boss and I’m like, I have to be the boss, I have to be on top of it, I have to be the best and if I forget the choreography, people are going to look at me and say, “What?” But I tell people that’s just the way it is. That’s life. It’s okay to forget the choreography. It’s okay to not be the best ever, you just have to keep trying and trying and trying. And that’s what training is all about.
We really put an emphasis on training the dancers, although a lot of these kids now, with TikTok and all these platforms where you can learn how to dance, they’re in a different world than it used to be when Kenny and I were first starting out. We were taking ballet classes, jazz classes, and all kinds of classes and that’s how we learned how to really dance and get a real foundation. We have a lot of teachers in our studio who do have the training, and we have a lot of teachers who don’t have the real training from the beginning and haven’t taken ballet classes, but they just happen to be amazing.
I was there [at Playground] Last night, and we just opened a new studio, right next door. So we have on one side Dexter’s hip-hop class with like 100 people there, and then right on the other side of our studio is Alexis teaching her insane hip-hop class, there’s 100 people there. And it’s funny because it’s like a competition. It really is like everyone is competing against each other. [to see] Who’s the best, but they don’t do it in a way that’s like, “I can be better than you, and I’m going to prove myself to you, and we’re going to fight.” However, on the show, you do see some fights.
What was it like working with Megan Thee Stallion on this film? Were you surprised to learn that she would be producing?
RA: I was just blown away, I have to say, when they said that she was coming to audition for one of their videos. We brought in the best of the best for her to see because we had an idea of what she was looking for. There were so many different styles, different body types, different hair, different everything, all ethnicities. First of all, I have to say this. We sat in the chair with the table and then the dancers were up front, and we sat down and she took my hand and she said, “I can’t believe I’m sitting next to Robin Antin.” And I was like, “What? Meg Thee Stallion is telling me that?” I was so shocked because she said, “I have to tell you, I’ve been a fan of The Pussycat Dolls since I was a little girl, and I’ve followed you and I’ve seen everything that you’ve done, and I’m so honored to be sitting next to you right now and doing this,” and we’ve been really good friends ever since and she’s been really sweet.
Just having her as an executive producer is definitely one of the highlights of my life. Aside from being Meg Thee Stallion, she’s just such a good, nice girl. She’s all about empowerment and making people feel safe. And she’s so real. That’s what I really love about her. She’s completely unfiltered, but in a good way. She’s so sincere and honest, even with the dancers that she was auditioning for in our studio. Here we all want to do our best, of course, but you know, there are times when you can be in front of an artist, like Meg Thee Stallion, and suddenly forget about the choreography. And you’re like, “Oh my god, what? I’ve known this all along.” And this happens to everyone, including me. So having her as an executive producer is crazy. Every time I tell people about it, they’re like, “What? This is crazy.”
You have worked on many dance and reality TV shows. Was there anything different or more challenging this time around?
RA: Well, yeah, I would say the difference between this one and the others is that there are reality shows about The Pussycat Dolls and I was obviously on… The Kardashians A lot… that one was actually different because they didn’t tell me, “You have to do it this way.” They gave me the freedom to do what I wanted to do, which was amazing. On this show, it was similar. Kenny and I definitely had those moments where we just did our thing. The funniest part that I know I’ll say every time I do press, is that it was finally time for Kenny and I to do it as partners, because we’re such good partners, we respect each other so much, and he’s so talented, so good at what he does. Sometimes I look at him and I’m just amazed at how talented he is, and he’s really smart, and he really understands the business and the brand and how we work together is amazing, but we have our riffs, we have our moments. I don’t even know if I want to say that we don’t get along. We don’t agree on a lot of things. You know, he wants it this way, I want it this way.
Playground premieres on Hulu on July 26.
