Just as owner Carlos Trujillo was looking to expand Elevation Fitness Colorado’s dance and yoga offerings, Danielle Lisella was mourning the closure of her favorite Summit dance studio. 

Lisella, a lifelong dancer who took a hiatus from the sport starting in college, credits Lauren Hitchell’s Studio B with bringing her back to dance. After a 10-year break, Lisella had forgotten the value dance brought to her life and Studio B helped remind her.

“You don’t realize until you’re an adult how much community and connectedness dance brings to your life,” she said.

She would come to constantly find herself at Studio B, and was thrilled when Hitchell offered her the opportunity to teach classes. 

That’s why when Hitchell announced Studio B would close its doors at the start of 2024, Lisella immediately began taking action to ensure she could keep this dance community alive. She gathered dancers together and the group racked their brains for months on what opportunities there were to continue the spirit of Studio B.

One day, Lisella approached the owner of the gym she frequented, Elevation Fitness Colorado, and asked if they were interested in opening a dance space that also offered yoga. Luckily, Trujillo had an unused space in the LaRiva Mall in Dillon that he thought would be perfect for a dance studio.

He said he was excited to hear Lisella’s pitch and often jumps at the opportunity to work with locals like her.

“We try to work with other community folks who have good ideas, work hard and are bright individuals, but maybe don’t have what they need in order to get (their idea) off the ground,” Trujillo said. 

By June, a deal was made where Lisella became the studio manager of what would become Elevation Dance & Yoga. She began reaching out through connections to curate a team of instructors. 

She soon reported back to Trujillo that the studio, based on the instructors she hired, would be able to offer numerous different bilingual classes for both dance and yoga. 

Trujillo said he quickly realized Lisella “is a force” and this dance studio was going to be successful.

Elevation Dance & Yoga officially opened its doors Sept. 30. The studio has a variety of yoga offerings from beginner to Ashtanga, a dynamic and physically demanding type of yoga. Dance classes include Afro Peruvian, belly dancing, line dancing, lyrical and more. 

Lisella said perhaps the most tiring dance class that taps into muscles that aren’t usually worked is pole dancing, a style that took her a while to fully appreciate because of its difficulty.

Additionally, there are Hula-Hooping dance classes for both kids and adults.

A drop-in class costs $25 and the studio is also running an opening special where people can get two weeks of unlimited classes for $99. The studio also plans on offering a punch class. 

Most classes currently offered are in the evenings on weekdays. Lisella said she is hoping to expand the schedule to include weekends soon.

For more information visit ElevationFitnessColorado.com/#danceyoga.