A dance routine on the series Dance Moms: A New Era has garnered controversy over a dance number based on late murder victim JonBenét Ramsey.

The routine, performed by dancer Ashlan Scheide, 11, included a shocking sequence in which the young dancer mimicked that she had been strangled.

A number of people were outraged over a routine that was based off Ramsey, who was tragically found dead at the age of six-years-old at her Boulder, Colorado home in 1996.

The case, which garnered national attention, has not ever had any arrests linked to it, and the child’s murder hasn’t ever been solved.

In a sequence on the episode – titled Glo Don’t Give with Both Hands – Ashlan’s mother Lisa told her, ‘You’re going to be a glitz pageant girl – that’s who JonBenét was, but then she got kidnapped and murdered.

A dance routine on Dance Moms: A New Era has garnered controversy over a number based on murder victim JonBenét Ramsey. The routine, performed by dancer Ashlan Scheide, 11, included a sequence in which the young dancer mimicked that she had been strangled

A number of people were outraged over a routine that was based off Ramsey, who was tragically found dead at the age of six-years-old at her Boulder, Colorado home in 1996

Ashlan said she was unnerved by the information about the case surrounding Ramsey, but was willing to follow instruction to prevail in the competition.

‘This is really not for me, but I’ll do anything for the win,’ said Ashlan, who eventually finished in fourth place in the competition.

In the episode, Ashlan was seen going over the routine with her dance teacher Gloria ‘Miss Glo’ Hampton, who had described Ramsey as ‘a glitz pageant queen.’

Hampton coached Ashlan in saying, ‘Remember, it’s a really sad, tragic story.

‘So you’re playing this young child who was put on display at all these pageants and your parents want this fame and stardom for you – but is that what they really want?’

Hampton told Inside Edition about her background and creative process in a recent interview.

‘I’ve been doing this for years,’ Hampton told the outlet. ‘Last season we took 450 dances to a dance competition for five weeks and then at nationals. So I’m used to doing costuming for thousands of children and 450 dances.’

She added, ‘Music, I am really inspired by music. I think it leads me to what I want to do. I hear something and I get inspired by that and I have a vision. It is interesting. I really have a vision in my head when I hear something that I like.’

Ashlan said she was unnerved by the information about the case surrounding Ramsey, but was willing to follow instruction to prevail in the competition

In a sequence on the program, Ashlan’s mother Lisa told her, ‘You’re going to be a glitz pageant girl – that’s who JonBenét was, but then she got kidnapped and murdered’

Outraged reactions to dance number

A number of users took to X/Twitter to sound off on the controversial dance routine.

One user said, ‘I’m outraged by episode of Dance Mom’s! They had a girl portraying John Bennett Ramsey and end of dances finishes with girl strangling herself & running off! Omg so damn disrespectful!’

Another user said, ‘Say WHAT??????? Sick.’

One user asked, ‘Who the hell thought something so tragic and despicable would be a good idea to perform?’

A user said that the segment ‘has to be the most disgusting example of child exploitation on prime time tv.’

The user added, ‘We have become a disgusting society using the actual murder of a child for entertainment,’ declaring, ‘Shame on everyone associated with this, including the pedophiles who enjoy it.’

Another user asked, ‘Who would be that stupid?’ to compose such a dance routine based on the subject matter.

A number of users took to X/Twitter to sound off on the controversial dance routine

The discussion continued on Reddit, where one user said the segment came off as ‘extremely disturbing’

The discussion continued on Reddit, where one user said the segment came off as ‘extremely disturbing.’

Said the user, ‘I feel with cases like Jonbenet and Gypsy Rose where the cases are incredibly public, several documentaries and movies made about them…people start to blur the lines and forget these are actual real life children.

‘I think a dance about Jonbenet could never truly be done in taste. Simply because there is no happy ending, it’s just emphasizing a horrific murder of a child.’

The user said that organizers ‘could’ve easily done a beauty pageant routine without exploiting Jonbenets murder.’

Another user expressed confusion about the routine itself, asking, ‘How was the audience supposed to deduce that was about JonBenet Ramsey? It was weird.’

The Ramsey case, which garnered national attention, has not ever had any arrests linked to it, and the child’s murder hasn’t ever been solved

History of case and recent developments

JonBenet Ramsey’s lifeless body was found ‘bludgeoned and strangled’ in the basement of the home of her family in Boulder, Colorado on December 26, 1996, the AP reported.

Her mother had contacted 911 hours before and reported that the child had been missing and a ransom note had been left in connection with her vanishing. Authorities ruled her death a homicide, but no charges have ever been filed in connection with the case.

On the 25th anniversary of the child’s death in December of 2021, local authorities  said that they still might be able to implement the use of DNA evidence in the case amid advancements in technology since 1996.

Police in Boulder said that they have been working with state officials to determine if ‘future DNA advancements’ can help investigators move forward in the yet-to-be-solved case.

‘As the Department continues to use new technology to enhance the investigation, it is actively reviewing genetic DNA testing processes to see if those can be applied to this case moving forward,’ police said in 2021.

Police said that amid its probe of the Ramsey killing, almost 1,000 DNA samples have been analyzed and more than 21,000 tips and clues have been reviewed. More than 1,000 people spread across 19 states have spoken with investigators in the murder probe, police said.

In 2008, DNA tests performed on the late child’s clothes indicated the presence of an ‘unexplained third party’ in her death, eliminating the child’s parents John and Patsy Ramsey and their son, Burke as potential suspects.

Former district attorney Mary Lacy said the evidence definitively cleared the relatives of suspicion, calling them ‘victims of this crime’ as well, the AP reported. Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in June of 2006.