The Japan Times - Dance Fitness Tempe Announces Expansion of Accessible Digital Movement Programs

Led by co-founder Rick Coffey (known online as @bigkidrick), the fitness and social media movement combines dance, performance, humor, and exercise across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The digital expansion aims to allow individuals to participate in structured dance fitness routines from home without requiring studio memberships or physical access to the Tempe location.

The initiative focuses on providing movement options centered on body acceptance, confidence, and participation rather than physical appearance or skill level.

The company’s approach reflects Coffey’s own transition from professional theatre to dance fitness. After earning a BFA in musical theatre from Kent State University and performing on national tours and with regional theatre companies, Coffey eventually found a different way to use his performance background.

“Performing on stage taught me how to connect with an audience, but dance fitness taught me something even more important,” said Coffey. “Instead of being the person everyone is watching, I get to help everyone in the room feel like they are the performer.”

Coffey’s journey into dance fitness was also shaped by years of struggling with weight and body image. Rather than viewing exercise as a way to punish or fix his body, he began approaching movement as something that could be enjoyable. Dance gave him an opportunity to sweat, laugh, perform, and connect with others while changing the way he thought about fitness and self-acceptance.

That philosophy became central to the community he would later build.

After moving to Phoenix in 2016, Coffey began bringing together his theatre experience and passion for dance fitness. His classes increasingly focused not only on choreography and exercise but also on helping participants feel comfortable, confident, and connected.

The concept eventually expanded beyond the studio through Coffey’s online presence as @bigkidrick. His content combines dance workouts, humor, encouragement, and conversations around body image, allowing people outside Arizona to participate in the movement.

Coffey also makes full dance fitness workouts available through YouTube, giving people an opportunity to participate from home without requiring a gym membership or access to a physical studio.

Dance Fitness Tempe was co-founded by Coffey and his wife, AK Coffey. The couple met in 2021 while volunteering at a dance studio in Old Town Scottsdale, where Rick was teaching and helping with studio operations. Their shared connection to dance eventually developed into a business partnership and the creation of their own studio.

At Dance Fitness Tempe, Rick brings his background in theatre, choreography, performance, and digital content, while AK contributes experience in business consulting and law. Together, they have developed a studio environment designed to welcome participants regardless of their previous dance or fitness experience.

The studio's philosophy centers on the idea that people should not have to reach a particular appearance, fitness level, or skill level before they feel welcome. Participants are encouraged to start where they are, enjoy movement, and build confidence along the way.

For Coffey, that philosophy is closely connected to his message of “evolve unapologetically.” The concept encourages people to pursue growth without treating their previous selves as failures. Accepting who someone is today, he believes, does not prevent that person from continuing to grow tomorrow.

As Coffey’s online audience has expanded, that message has reached millions of people beyond the Phoenix and Tempe communities. His social platforms have become an extension of the studio, providing accessible dance fitness content and a broader community centered on movement and self-confidence.

Looking back on his transition from professional theatre to fitness entrepreneurship, Coffey sees the two careers as connected rather than separate. Theatre gave him the tools to perform and engage an audience, while his own experiences with body image helped shape the empathy behind his approach to fitness.

Today, Dance Fitness Tempe continues to use that combination of performance and fitness to create an environment where participants can focus less on how they look and more on how movement makes them feel.

Coffey says his greatest measure of success is not the number of followers he has accumulated or the professional stages he has performed on, but the reaction of people who enter a class believing they cannot dance and leave feeling confident.

Whether through a class at Dance Fitness Tempe, social media content from @bigkidrick, or a free online workout, Coffey’s message remains consistent: people do not need to wait until they change their bodies to begin enjoying them.

About Rick Coffey and Dance Fitness Tempe

Dance Fitness Tempe is a Tempe, Arizona-based dance fitness studio co-founded by Rick Coffey and AK Coffey. The studio combines dance, fitness, performance, and community to create an accessible and welcoming environment for people of different fitness and dance experience levels. Rick Coffey, known online as @bigkidrick, is a performer, dance fitness instructor, entrepreneur, and content creator. Through its studio programs and digital content, Dance Fitness Tempe promotes joyful movement, confidence, and an approach to fitness centered on participation rather than appearance.

Learn more: Dance Fitness Tempe

Personal site: Big Kid Rick

YouTube: @bigkidrick on YouTube

Instagram: @bigkidrick on Instagram

Facebook: @bigkidrick on Facebook

Contact

Source article: https://financewire.com/2026/09/11/dance-fitness-tempe-announces-expansion-of-accessible-digital-movement-programs/

K.Nakajima--JT