Today we’d like to introduce you to Dani Coleman.
Hi Dani, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in California but grew up on the East Coast in Maryland and New Jersey. However, no matter where I was living one thing was certain: I was always dancing. Since the age of two, my parents enrolled me in dance lessons and I haven’t stopped since. When I think back to my childhood what I remember most were the experiences dance granted me and the community it gave me. While I could sit here and list the endless experiences I was privileged enough to have, what I remember most are the sacrifices my family made to allow me to have them.
I grew up about half an hour outside of New York City and my next chapter naturally led me there with dance. Like most people who have experienced New York City, it taught me about two crucial things: how to hustle and about heartbreak. I attended school full time at Marymount Manhattan College and would earn my rent on the weekends between Friday and Sunday working about 34 hours in three days. I would take the bus to New Jersey to teach dance in the mornings and then bus back into the city to hostess at a spot downtown til late at night. I had the pleasure of performing around the city, meeting my best friends (still to this day), and experienced my first-love. Instead of a breakup, my heartbreak came in the form of loss. Experiencing grief so deeply gave me my life’s motto: “Rock bottom is a beautiful place to start”.
From that place, I made the leap back to the West Coast. During my time here in California I’ve fallen in love with movement beyond just dancing. While dancing has brought me on some of my wildest adventures, I’ve fallen in love with fitness more full-time now. Over the past eight years, I have had the pleasure of working with everything from athletes to princesses. However, what inspires me most are the people who show up and I get to know daily in-studio. Outside of the studio, you can find me bringing movement to communities like Little Tokyo in downtown LA where I teach their senior citizens and help underserved communities gain access to movement and resources.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life’s never been a smooth road and I’d love to meet someone who’s said it has been. Like most people I’ve experienced hardship emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, and everything else that comes along with being a human.
I think my biggest lesson to this day has been on handling loss. It’s a place that felt I learned the most about myself at a young age, my community carrying me, and mental health.
I also look back on my younger self pursuing dance in Los Angeles and some of the unhealthy situations I was in emotionally and physically. I wish I could of told my younger self to speak up, quit the gig sooner, and to know your worth in a field that tries to consistently make you diminish it.
However, it is in the valleys of my life that I’ve found my voice and it is in the peaks that I have learned to enjoy every moment.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a mover of all sorts!
One of the places you can currently catch me is P.volve as their Director of training for Studio and Franchise. Our studio is located in West Hollywood. However, we have two other brick-and-mortar studios located in New York City and Chicago! P.volve is a functional fitness method that helps every person feel and look their best. In our workouts, you are going to move the way your body was designed to and better yet actually feel good doing it. While your body is going to get stronger you are also going to build proper body mechanics, stronger joints, and body awareness. In fitness, especially in LA, it can be easy to focus solely on vanity-driven results. In our workouts you are going to feel good, it’s going to be sustainable, and you’re going to realize you deserve more from your fitness.
The LA studio has been open for a little over a year and a half now and I have seen it grow from the ground up. It has been the most rewarding seeing our community grow. from small socially distanced classes on our balcony with masks on to full classes that are waitlisted!
When you step into my class you are going to feel supported and empowered. Time is our greatest currency and I never take it lightly when someone chooses to invest an hour of their day sharing a space with me. When you are in my space you are going to feel included, welcomed, and invigorated!
With that, my main focus is how I can bring movement to life in areas that don’t have access or means to it. One way I’m making that happen now is at the Little Tokyo Service Center downtown in Los Angeles. You can find me every week teaching their community various exercise classes. Right now I am working with their senior citizens! Beyond physical things, movement has the power to help alleviate stress, help us move emotions through our body, boost our mood, and so many other things – everyone should be able to experience those things and I look forward to finding more ways to make that happen.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I love about our city is the community it holds! I love that there seems to be a part of LA for everyone and anyone. What I least like about our city is the lack of reliable public transportation. LA is so big and I wish it felt more connected or accessible to foster the community more whole-heartedly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pvolve.com/pages/los-angeles
- Instagram: @dani_bcoleman
- Other: https://www.ltsc.org/
Image Credits
Photography by: Natalia M. Roberts (@nataliamroberts_photography), Hailee Repko, and others.
