One night at the club where she works, Honey and her rival Katrina are caught on camera dancing. Honey's goal is to become a backup dancer in music videos. When Honey and her companion Gina leave the club the same evening, they come upon some children dancing. After spotting kids Benny and his younger brother Raymond dancing in the street, Honey and her friend Gina invite them to her classes. In addition to being a barman, Honey Daniels teaches dancing at the neighborhood community center in New York City that her mother runs!
Both accept Honey's invitation to come to her community dance classes, where they get ideas for some of Honey's dance routines but refuse to be a part of it. Honey wants to work as a hip-hop choreographer, but her mother is pushing her to teach ballet in the city.
Michael Ellis, the owner of Ellis Productions, notices Honey in the recorded video, chooses her right away, and hires her as a backup dancer in Jada Kiss's next music video. Ellis chooses to let Honey choreograph the video since he is dissatisfied with his existing dancer. Impressively, Honey receives a promotion and begins choreographing for Shawn Desman, Sheek Louch, and Tweet. Her work soon provides her with wealth, notoriety, and independence, but it also separates her from the neighborhood youngsters and the center.
Honey takes Raymond to Chaz’s barbershop. Chaz already adores Honey and ends up initiating a conversation with him. After spending some time getting to know Raymond and Benny, Honey is taken aback to discover that Benny is making bad decisions. By dropping Raymond off at his home, Honey notices that these kids are involved in the drug business. Honey observes the sports kids and comes up with their moves changing them into dance steps. And it worked too. Raymond informs Honey that Benny and their mother's boyfriend got into a fight, during which Benny broke his lip. Honey and Raymond finally find Benny, and she offers him to be her assistant. Benny accepts Honey's offer to work as her assistant, provided he stays out of trouble. In Ginuwine's most recent video, she persuades Michael to use the students she educates. After becoming successful in the music industry, Honey reluctantly starts dating hairdresser Chaz and runs into issues at the community center. The center is run by Honey's mother, who is unsure if she will be able to keep it up-to-date given the age and state of the building.
Chaz comes up with his history and encourages her to put more emphasis on her happiness than her notoriety. When Honey finds an old store that is for sale, she decides to take action and convert it into a dancing studio for the children in the area. Honey pays half the money in the bank and promises to pay the remaining half at the end of the month. As Ginuwine acts like an urban Pied Piper, Honey presents Ellis with a concept for Ginuwine's upcoming video, which will feature the children she teaches at the center as backup dancers. When Gina's twenty-fifth birthday approaches, Honey arranges to take her to Atlantic City. Honey cancels plans to take Gina to Atlantic City for her birthday after Michael tells her that they cannot miss a crucial appointment.
However, Ellis persuades her to attend a black-and-white party instead, after which he inebriety advances towards her. After she rejects him and gives him a face slap, Michael starts to lose it at Honey, who then exits the party. Michael dismisses her during the Ginuwine filming after he refuses to include the kids in the video and shows up on-site with Katrina. He then fires Honey from the video, blackballs her from the company, and replaces her with Katrina. The children are inconsolable. Meanwhile, Honey's revenue has dried up because Michael blackballed her in the industry following the disastrous Ginuwine video.
Honey faces some hard times getting a project to work on. After getting busted, Benny goes back to selling drugs and ends up in Juvy. The bank was not ready to extend the time for paying the remaining money. The store will reopen for business if the remaining down payment is not received, according to the bank. Honey's parents are pressuring her to start teaching ballet classes, but they won't provide the money for a new dance facility.
A newspaper photo showing Honey getting kissed at the party Gina said was work has infuriated her. Despite their initial rocky friendship, Gina's forgiveness relieves Honey, who learns that while she can fulfill her aspirations, she must begin to believe and trust in herself more frequently. After struggling to make the studio's down payment, Honey eventually devises a plan to generate income. She uses an abandoned chapel that will be demolished for the event to host a dance benefit. After receiving a flyer about the event, Gina shows it to the bank manager, who contacts a few contributors to invite them to the benefit.
She pays him a visit in jail. Although she is adamant about helping him, he declines and belittles Honey. Benny is informed by Honey that his mother is aware of this and that he will be bailed out. Honey tries to talk sense into him, but he urges her to leave. Benny is asked by Honey how frequently his friends visit him, and he is upset by her inquiry after learning that his best friend Otis deceived him and got him incarcerated and that none of his friends ever come to him at all, leaving him to consider the advantages. Michael tries to get Katrina to choreograph a Missy Elliott video, but Missy says she wants Honey and that Katrina's seductive dance skills aren't for her.
Ellis crawls back to her and begs her to work for him when she insists on Honey Daniels. Michael offers to purchase Honey's studio in exchange for her coming back. She declines, saying she will pay for the studio herself, realizing the artists want her back. She chastises Michael for his conceit, pointing out that he violated the children in addition to blackballing her out of petty jealousy. Benny, who recently got released, joins his dancing mates to assist Honey when she chooses to throw a dance benefit. Benny also understands that he has primarily let himself down by making poor decisions in life that could result in his death or life in prison. Additionally, he expresses guilt for his harsh behavior towards Honey after realizing that she was willing to assist him.
The benefit is a full house with enthusiastic performers, and Gina's bank manager urges art donors to come. Honey is reassured by the bank manager that the building is completely funded. As everyone was getting ready for the show and dressing, Benny assured Honey in the changing room that everything would work out. That evening, there were a lot of people in attendance, including Chaz, Benny's mother, and Honey's parents.
Benny's mother sees her son's potential as a choreographer and is pleasantly impressed. Everyone who danced was applauded by the audience. Honey gives a big hug to Benny, her new lover, Chaz, her parents, and everyone else. R&B artist Tweet joins Honey on stage to celebrate her win, and she also attends. At last, Honey's mother realizes that the dance form her daughter adores may provide her with all the benefits ballet might offer. As the event comes to an end, Missy Elliott shows up and rushes in to meet Honey. At her new dance facility, The Bronx Dance Centre, she introduces Honey to the R&B group Blaque to help them prepare for their upcoming video. As the credits roll, Honey's hit Blaque music video is shown.
