Maddie Ziegler

Biography of Maddie Ziegler

Madison Nicole Ziegler was born in Pittsburgh, on September 30, 2002. She is known artistically as Maddie Ziegler, is an American dancer, actress and model. She is known for appearing on the Lifetime reality show Dance Moms.She has also participated as a guest on television series, talk shows and other types of broadcasts; her and she has been seen on the covers of magazines and articles. She has modeled for Capezio, Ralph Lauren, and Target, among other brands. She also owns her own clothing brand, Maddie Style.

She is the daughter of Kurt Ziegler and Melissa Gisoni. Her parents divorced in 2011 and later, in mid-2013, her mother married Greg Gisoni. Maddie has a younger sister, Mackenzie Ziegler (b. 2004), who is also a dancer and singer; and four older siblings, Tyler, Math, Michelle and Ryan Ziegler, from her father's previous marriage. Maddie and her family lived for a long time in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, before also spending some of her time in Los Angeles.

Maddie began dancing at age 2 at Reign Dance Productions in Pittsburgh, and at age 5-6, joined the Abby Lee Dance Company. Maddie's younger sister, Mackenzie, later followed her steps and joined the Abby Lee Dance Company as well.

In 2011, Maddie was a contestant on CBS's "Live to Dance" dance competition. Later that year, Maddie's mother won a featured role on Lifetime's Dance Moms, a show that documents the day-to-day lives of the young dancers of the Abby Lee Elite Team Competition Dance Company. On the show, Maddie appears alongside her mother Melissa and her sister Mackenzie, also a dancer. In 2013, Maddie made an appearance on Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.

In 2012, she landed her first professional acting job in the role of 'young Deb' on the Lifetime series Drop Dead Diva. Deb is a lawyer who would represent her mother Bobbie, a director. from dance school, since she is being sued by the family of a young dancer. In the case she reminds Deb of her from her previous dance career with flashbacks of a young girl dancing Deb, played by Maddie. Maddie appears in a Skechers commercial and has appeared in several music videos.

Maddie has also modeled for a number of clothing lines, including Glitzy Girl, Oxyjen, Sally Miller, Purple Pixies, Capezio and Cicci Dancewear.

In 2014, singer-songwriter Rachael Sage dedicated her song Happiness to Ziegler. Additionally, Maddie has guest-starred on an episode of the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally.

She then appeared in one of the episodes of Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn as a great dancer at the dance school Dawn attends.

Maddie and Ella Mackenzie's younger sister left Dance Moms at the end of the sixth season.

At just 13 years old, Maddie participates as a judge on the show So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation alongside Paula Abdul, Jason Derulo and Nigel Lythgoe.