Some things are better left in the past. Dance Moms star Nia Sioux is living by that logic since leaving the series. Us Weekly caught up with the 16-year-old at the Midnight Sun premiere at the Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 15, and she explained that she has put space between herself and Abby Lee Miller, the woman who once mentored her.

Sioux told Us she likely won’t reconnect with Miller once she is released from prison: “Probably not. Never say never, but I’ve pretty much distanced myself for a while.”

Though the emerging actress hasn’t kept in touch with her former dance instructor, she acknowledges that she learned a lot from working with Miller. “I really learned so much from her,” she said. “I think one thing that I take from working with her is I learned how to deal with difficult people, with different types of people.”

Miller is currently serving a 366-day federal prison sentence for bankruptcy fraud and failing to report $120,000 in Australian currency that she brought into the United States. Us spoke to the choreographer before she went to prison, and she shared her hopes for life after she served her time. “I hope to come out and have a new TV show, a scripted show that I’ve created,” she explained. “And it’s kind of, you know, a teenage show where Dance Moms leaves off, what should happen next because I know what should happen next.” Miller also told Us she was working on a memoir and a Broadway show.

Sioux departed Dance Moms last year after seven seasons on the Lifetime reality show. She was the only remaining original cast member and left to pursue acting and music.

With reporting by Emily Marcus.