It’s almost a certainty the three-part Netflix documentary series “Dancing for the Devil: The 7M Tik Tok Cult” will be a Top 10 hit on the streaming giant, given the nature of the subject matter and the amount of attention this story has garnered over the last couple of years. via social media and articles from mainstream outlets such as Daily Beast and Rolling Stone.
Still, it would not be accurate to call this a “true crime” series, because no criminal charges have been filed against the clearly shady and manipulative and allegedly monstrous villain at the center of the story. Many of the major storylines in this tangled and complex tale remain unresolved, and because of that the docuseries, though at times insightful and emotionally resonant, feels incomplete.
Not that “Dancing for the Devil” doesn’t have all the ingredients of a high-buzz documentary series, what with a narrative that features talented young dancers with millions of followers and an alleged cult leader whose sermons (heard on audio recordings) are filled with grandiose proclamations and who fancied himself a Hollywood player, at one point having his name as a producer on the credits for an unremarkable rom-com co-starring one Meghan Markle.
Filmed in a style that favors stylish screen grabs and snippets of TikTok videos, along with interviews with former members of the alleged cult and family members who are still trying to get their relatives to leave the organization, the docuseries focuses on the story of the Wilking family of Detroit. From an early age, Melanie and Miranda Wilking loved dance and, like thousands of other teens and twentysomethings, started posting videos of themselves doing choreographed routines.
When Miranda graduated from high school in 2016, she moved to California to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional dancer; a year later, Melanie joined her. With the advent of TikTok, the online dance world exploded — and Miranda and Melanie created their own brand in which they would share their ultra-upbeat personalities, do dance numbers, unbox merchandise, etc. Soon they had more than 3 million followers.
In 2019, a well-known dancer and influencer known as “BDash” (real name James Derrick) reached out to the Wilking sisters to talk about collaborating. This set off a chain of events that led to Miranda and Melanie meeting one Robert Shinn, the oily and narcissistic pastor/founder of the Shekinah Church (unaffiliated with other churches bearing that name) and the founder of a talent management company called 7M, which handled a number of dancers who had sizable followings. Many of them lived in a “content house,” and spent their days recording routines.
This is no small-time operation; we’re talking about gifted dancers who appeared on talk shows, toured with major acts, scored endorsement deals, etc. The question, and in some cases the centerpiece of pending civil litigation, is how much of the income derived from these endeavors found its way into the Shinn’s pockets, and whether or not Shinn is running a cult and took “full physical and economic ... control over Shekinah members,” as an ongoing lawsuit contends.
Melanie, concerned about the Bible-thumping, controlling vibes of the organization, declined to sign with 7M. Miranda, on the other hand, was all-in. She changed her look, entered into a romance (and eventually marriage) with Derrick, and all but severed ties with her family.
In January of 2021, when Miranda’s grandfather died and Miranda said she wouldn’t be coming home for the funeral, her parents flew out to California, where Miranda said she would need the blessing of someone closer to God than her parents in order to attend the service. His voice breaking, Dean Wilking, father of the Wilking sisters, says that was the moment when he felt Miranda was “gone.”
After the Wilking parents and Melanie posted a video on Instagram expressing their concerns that Miranda was in a cult, the story exploded. A super-cheery Miranda responded by posting videos in which she said, “I’m not in a cult,” and read from the Bible. Some of the dancers left 7M, but Miranda and Derrick stayed.
The series also devotes considerable time to the stories of Melanie Lee, who left Shekina more than a decade ago, and her sister Priscylla, who only recently fled after some 23 years in the organization. Their attempts to reconnect with one another are heartbreaking to watch; it’s as if we’re eavesdropping on a therapy session, and we feel maybe we shouldn’t even be in “the room.”
By the conclusion of Episode III, we have heard numerous and credible allegations against Shinn by former members, including some who say they were assaulted. At best, he is a slippery and onerous control freak. At worst, he should be locked up for life for horrific alleged offenses including sexual battery and human trafficking. Still, as the end title cards tell us, at this point no criminal charges have been filed against Shinn, and the civil litigation is pending.
One can only hope the full truth comes out one day.
