Body-Love Dancing Diva Inspires Through Words AND Movement
Santina Rigano-Lesch, the creator of an impactful movement in body positivity, shares some deep personal insights in what 'loving yourself' really means.
A Little About The Guest.
Santina Rigano-Lesch is a movement educator, dance professional, and creative entrepreneur who helps people reconnect with their bodies through joy, rhythm, and release.
Born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia, Santina began dancing at age four and grew up immersed in studio life; training, performing, and teaching across styles including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip-Hop, Musical Theatre, Street Jazz, Funk, Latina styles, Heels, Commercial Dance, and Broadway.
After teenage experiences in ballet left her feeling disconnected from her body, she found freedom and self-expression, as an adult, in alternative styles that celebrated individuality, musicality, and authenticity.
Santina has performed throughout Australia, managed a performing arts company, and coached National Hip Hop Champions three years in a row. She later owned and operated a successful dance studio, teaching over 400 kids weekly, before closing during the pandemic, a bittersweet chapter that reshaped her relationship with movement, leadership, and care.
Now based in Washington State, Santina is the founder of Basic Bitch Boogie (BBB), a movement-based app and community rooted in joy-forward, trauma-informed practices. Her work is deeply informed by lived experience and navigating life in a bigger body, chronic illness, hormonal imbalance including PCOS, and a potential endometriosis diagnosis, as well as years spent unlearning “push through it” narratives common in dance culture.
Through BBB, she helps people rebuild self-trust, regulate their nervous systems, and feel at home in their bodies again.
In addition to BBB, Santina works with dance studios/educators and movement professionals as a Culture & Vibe Marketing strategist and content mentor. She holds a Bachelor of Elementary Education and a Diploma of Business (Entrepreneurship), has over 16 years of experience working with children, adults, seniors, and communities, and is currently completing NASM certifications in Personal Training, Corrective Exercise, and Nutrition Coaching, alongside trauma-informed training.
At the heart of everything Santina does is one belief: every body is a dancing body, and when we remove what holds us back, joy becomes a powerful pathway to healing, connection, and self-expression.
Outside of work, Santina loves cooking, reading, crocheting, exploring nature, attending community festivals, dancing it out to her favourite tracks, spending time with her wife, Danyelle, and soaking up as much beach time as possible.
You can connect with her here:
WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | INSTAGRAM #2
The Guest Deep-Dive.
1. What’s something small that makes you feel instantly more comfortable in your body?
Something small that instantly makes me feel more comfortable in my body is when I stop “performing” and actually come back into it.
And what I mean by that is… there are so many subtle ways we learn to treat our body like something to manage, present, or get right. Holding tension without realizing it. Moving in ways that look good instead of feel good. Pushing past what our body is asking for because we think we should be able to do more.
So for me, the shift happens in really tiny moments of self awareness.
It might be softening my breath. Unclenching my jaw. Letting my shoulders drop. Putting on a song and allowing myself to move without needing it to be anything other than what it is.
Sometimes it’s even just placing a hand on my chest or my stomach and reminding myself, ‘I’m here. I’m allowed to take up space in my own body.’
Because the second I stop observing myself from the outside and start feeling from the inside, everything changes.
It’s subtle. It’s small. Most people wouldn’t even notice it.
But internally, it feels like coming home.
Like my body isn’t something I have to fix… it’s something I get to be in relationship with!
2. What’s something you wear only for yourself?
Bold, vibrant, print leggings.
And that might sound simple, but it didn’t start that way.
For a long time, I lived in a majority black wardrobe with baggy clothes. Anything that helped me hide, minimize, disappear, not be perceived as “too much”. Getting dressed felt like managing how my body showed up in the world… not expressing who I actually was.
And then somewhere along the way, I realized how much of that wasn’t actually for me.
Because the truth is, I’ve always been bold. I’ve always had outgoing energy. I’ve always been expressive.
So now? I wear that.
Bright colors. Loud prints. Things that move when I move.
Even after hearing things like, “that’s not flattering for your body type” or “those kinds of prints are made for smaller bodies.”
And that’s exactly why I kept wearing them.
Because I’m not getting dressed to be flattering.
I’m not getting dressed to be approved of.
I’m getting dressed for me.
For how it feels to be in my body.
For how it lets me take up space.
For how it reflects the version of me that refuses to shrink anymore.
So yeah… I wear bold, vibrant leggings.
Not for you. Not for anyone watching.
For me.
3. What’s your go-to self-sabotage move?
Overriding my body in the name of being productive.
It’s sneaky, because it doesn’t look like sabotage at first. It looks like discipline. Like commitment. Like “I’m just getting shit done.”
But it shows up as pushing past exhaustion. Ignoring the signals that I need to rest. Convincing myself that I’ll feel better after I finish one more thing.
And if I’m being really honest… it’s a pattern I learned.
To keep going. To push through. To not slow down.
Because slowing down can feel uncomfortable. It creates space. And space means I actually have to feel what’s going on in my body instead of staying busy enough to avoid it.
So the sabotage isn’t that I don’t care about myself.
It’s that I care… but I’ve been taught to override.
And the work for me now is catching that in real time.
Pausing. Checking in. Letting my body lead instead of dragging it behind me.
Because the same part of me that knows how to push through, is learning how to soften, too.
4. What part of your personality surprises people the most?
Probably how direct I am.
I think people meet me and feel the warmth first. The openness. The energy. And then at some point, they realize… oh, she’s going to say the thing.
The thing everyone’s thinking.
The thing no one wants to say out loud.
And I’ll say it with honesty, clarity, and not a lot of fluff.
Part of that is just who I am. I’m an Enneagram 8, wired to be direct, to challenge, and to get to the truth of things instead of dancing around it.
Part of it is my upbringing. Being Australian, there’s a level of straightforwardness, mixed with cussing, that’s just normal. We don’t sugarcoat things the same way. It’s less about being harsh and more about being real.
But what surprises people the most is that it exists alongside a really deep sensitivity.
Because I’m also a Pisces.
So it’s not honesty for the sake of being blunt. It’s not directness without care.
It’s truth with awareness.
Clarity with feeling.
I’ll say the hard thing but I’m saying it because I can feel what’s underneath it. Because I care. Because I want people to come back into themselves.
So yeah… I’m the one who will say it.
But I’m also the one who will hold you while you hear it.
5. What was it like growing up as an Aussie and how does it differ from life in the USA?
It’s more relaxed. More grounded. Less performative.
People chat more. Linger more. There’s less urgency to rush through everything and more space to just… be in it.
Even something like food feels different. The portions are smaller, but there’s so much more variety and cultural influence; Indian, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Ethiopian, Greek, Italian. Food feels like an experience, not something rushed or overly processed.
And lifestyle-wise, there’s a much bigger emphasis on work-life balance. It’s expected that you take your time off (yes we get a lot more paid time off than here). That you rest. That you have a life outside of work so you can actually show up as your best self when you are there.
And then there’s the environment.
Where I’m from, it’s very beachy. It’s normal to have a towel and swimmers in the boot of your car and just… stop for a swim on your way home. That kind of access to nature, to pause, to reset, it becomes part of how you live, not something you have to plan or earn.
Then I came to the U.S., and I noticed how different the pace and energy can be. There’s often more structure, more urgency, more awareness of how things are perceived. More pressure to be “on,” to be productive, to keep moving.
Neither is right or wrong… but they shape you differently.
And I think what’s been most impactful for me is learning how to hold both.
I come from a place that taught me how to be in my life… not perform it.
And now I live in a space that’s given me more awareness of how people experience things, how things land, and the emotional nuance inside of that.
So the way I move through the world now is a blend.
Grounded AND aware.
Honest AND intentional.
Present AND perceptive.
And that combination has shaped so much of who I am, both as a human and in the work I do.
6. What is the most bizarre thing that you have ever done in your life?
Ziplining through a full treetop course in Tasmania… while being absolutely terrified of heights.
And not like “haha I’m a little nervous.”
I mean I thought I was going to shit my pants level of fear.
This wasn’t a one-and-done zipline either.
This was a full treetop maze situation, platform after platform, obstacle after obstacle, zipline after zipline.
So it wasn’t just one moment of courage.
It was… multiple rounds of “why in the fuck did I sign up for this?” 😅
The best part, it was my idea!
At more than one platform, I was that person.
Clipped in.
Ready to go.
Fully holding up the line behind me.
My wife? Thriving.
Sometimes going before me, sometimes going after me, fully coaching me through it like, “you’ve got this, just step off.”
Meanwhile I’m over here negotiating with my nervous system like we’re in a full-blown board meeting.
Trying to breathe.
Trying to convince my body we are not, in fact, about to die.
And eventually… every time… I did it.
Not because the fear went away.
Not because I suddenly felt brave.
But because I moved with the fear.
Shaky. Slow. Slightly dramatic. Actually, fully dramatic.
But I did the thing.
And honestly? That feels like a pretty accurate metaphor for how I move through life now.
The Podcast Deets.
There’s an unspoken rule that most of us learn at a very young age about which bodies are allowed to belong- and which are not.
As a result, we’ve gotten really good at shrinking and fitting ourselves into some pretty small boxes. We’re constantly adjusting, fixing, hiding- basically doing anything we can to avoid being seen in any area of our lives.
And that? Well, it’s pretty fucking sad and it’s time we talk about it. So today… we’re doing just that.
In this extra spicy and totally unhinged episode, I am joined by Friday’s with Friends guest Santina Rigano-Lesch, and boy-oh-boy- does she ever have a message for us.
In this conversation, we’re talking about moments in life where our worth was directly connected to our body, how this altered the way we showed up throughout our entire life- and how it’s finally time to demand more for your life.
This is probably one of my favourite conversations on the podcast to date, and this topic is centered around something that I think is so important for us all to hear. I can’t wait for you to listen to it!
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Your Body Is Allowed To Belong [with Santina Rigano-Lesch]