Whether you’re swaying your hips to your favorite song or breaking it down to an energetic beat, each class at DivaDance Chicago offers a full hour of a choreographed dance routine.

The national dance studio chain is centered on community and building confidence. Lexi Longsworth is the owner of the Chicago branch.

“I started in Houston and loved it so much,” Longsworth said. “I moved to Chicago and I started taking classes, working the front desk and then I started teaching classes. Then I got this amazing opportunity to become owner.”

During the day, Longsworth is a speech pathologist. By night, she runs the dance studio driven by body inclusivity.

“I’ve grown up in the dance industry,” Longsworth said. “It’s not necessarily the safest space for people with a bigger body, and it’s super important when people come here — especially as adults our bodies change, this is a space where you can wear whatever you want, you can dance whatever you want and no one is going to judge you when you are in this space.”

That’s one of the reasons Gabriela Lopez, a graduate student at Northwestern University, was motivated to join. She’s been taking classes for two years. 

“I’ve tried some other studios before,” Lopez said, “and it was just, like, people who were a certain body type or were professionals, and when I came here people looked like me. People are in all different levels and sizes.”

With music selections ranging from pop to reggaeton, there’s a place for everyone on the dance floor.

“It feels so great to put women in a space that might look like me, who might be a person of color, be in a bigger body or just looking for a great workout,” Longsworth said.

Longsworth said her mother, who comes from Belize, taught her to use dance a tool to celebrate movement and self-love.

“Just be who you are, and you can’t change that — so just owning that,” Longsworth said. “I’ve grown up that way where you dust your needs off and keep pushing.”

It’s been nearly a year since Longsworth took ownership of the dance studio, and she said its success has led her to look into opening a second location.

“Owning a dance studio feels really liberating,” Longsworth said. “Being first-generation American, I never thought this would happen for me.”

DivaDance Chicago is open seven days per week.