Gianna Martello is a longtime dancer who rose to fame as Abby Lee Miller’s right-hand-woman on the hit Lifetime series, Dance Moms. After eight seasons of choreographing the show in Pittsburgh, Martello recently moved to California to work at the Abby Lee Company’s LA Studio.

Coming from a family of dancers, Martello began classes at the age of four. When Martello’s mother first saw Miller’s instruction, she knew that Miller was an expert and wanted Martello to study with her. Under Miller’s wing, Martello racked up regional and national dance titles, and even began assisting Miller with choreography when she was only sixteen. Since, Martello’s been employed by Abby Lee Company half of her life, and while Miller was battling cancer, she said if something were to happen to her, the dance company would be left to Martello.

During Martello’s time on the show, she often resolved issues with the helicopter moms and Abby, while also choreographing majority of the dances. Her rapport with the company led her to choreograph music videos for cast member, Nia Sioux, as well as the show’s biggest star and Teen Choice Award winner, Maddie Zeigler, creating the dance for the Alexx Calise music video, “Cry,” which has nearly six million views on YouTube to date. Martello has choreographed countless other music videos for artists like Rachael Sage, Todrick Hall, Meghan Trainer, and more.

Outside of her Dance Moms work, Martello often serves as a guest instructor, judge for international dance contests, and a choreographer: some of her credits include award ceremonies like Australia’s ASTRA Awards and Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards, as well as the movie Dance-Off. During coronavirus, Martello teaches virtually and markets her classes to over a million Instagram followers.