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Thick Like Me

@thicklikeme.dance

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Dancer Educator Veteran Artivist Homie
Co-Founder @thicklikeme.dance
Guest Artist @slmdances
BOT @ladiesofhiphop
Professor @mmcdancedept
MKE ✈️ NY

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🎙️ THE MIC HAS BEEN PASSED. 👏🏾
The Dance Union Podcast @thedanceunion said talk yo sh*t… and we showed UP. We are so excited to share our work, our research, and our mission with the world. Body liberation in dance spaces isn’t just a conversation, it’s a movement that benefits everyone, and we are just getting started.

Tap the link in bio to catch us on Apple Podcasts 🎧 and SoundCloud. While you’re at it, slide on our page and drop a donation💰. Every dollar keeps this work alive and in motion. 💜🩷
We are Thick Like Me. And we are here to stay. 🌀✨

#ThickLikeMe #BodyLiberation #DanceUnionPodcast #SizeismInDance by @thicklikeme.dance

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5 months ago

We’re excited to announce that Thick Like Me (TLM) is officially a non-profit. We are a dance organization dedicated to body liberation and the promotion of holistic health within the dance community. Through education, performance, creative collaboration, and advocacy, we seek to uplift the labor, artistry, and unique knowledge of thick Black women in dance and beyond.

#dance #nonprofit #bodyliberation #bodypositivity #holistichealth #wellness #danceeducation #thick #thickdancers #thicklikeme #dancers by @thicklikeme.dance

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2 years ago

In our Body Liberation in Dance Report, 71% of the 91 dancers surveyed said their dance training had a negative or very negative effect on their body image. 81% said perceptions or treatment related to body size had hindered them, or someone they know, from dancing.
Into Focus is what it looks like to build something different
Join us on Zoom for the official premiere of Into Focus. We're showcasing our Ambassadors, five thick Black women dance artists.
Their art deserves to be seen.
Come free or pay what you can.

Sunday, Oct 18 · 4 PM ET (3 CT · 2 MT · 1 PT/AZ) · Zoom ·
Come free or pay what you can: [🔗 link in bio]

#IntoFocus #ThickLikeMe #BodyLiberation by @thicklikeme.dance

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2 days ago

Start off by saying thank you to those who showed up for me last time i had surgery. I want to send official thank you’s… so check your inboxes next week xoxox xoxox xoxoxo xoxox xoxox xoxoxo xoxo

She’s back in repair 🛠️💃🏽🤷🏾‍♀️
October 1st, I had a successful arthroscopic knee surgery and I’m ready for this next chapter. Real talk I didn’t share much the first time around because I healed fast, developed some scar tissue, and ended up walking around New York like a pirate with a cane 🩼🏴‍☠️🩹. And listen... that pimp walk was CUTE. I don’t regret it lol.
But I wanna dance. So here we go again.

Surgery went well and I’m so grateful for the community that’s held me down. This time, support looks a little different… I don’t need the “let me know if you need anything” texts. Come check on me. Keep me company. Help me stay active and accountable with my exercises. Bring good energy, send healing energy, help me get back outside and back into my body 🙏🏾
And yes: I’m accepting plates 🍽️ If you wanna cook for me, please do. Free food + company is always welcome.
Goal: walking without a cane or crutches by end of this year. By end of next year, getting as close as possible to my full dancing ability.
One step. One exercise. One day. One dance move at a time. 💃🏾
#BackInRepair #DancerInRecovery #OneStepAtATime taken in Brooklyn, New York by @thicklikeme.dance

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15 days ago

✨ A little look back at A Norf Side Chic ✨
Last year, I shared a 20-minute excerpt of this work through the Dancing While Black Fellowship. One year later, I’m still here with it: still digging, still dancing (in a chair), still remembering + imagining + building. 🖤

This reel is a little different. What you’re hearing is the soundscape from the performance, edited as a kind of mixtape. You’ll see the women, artists, and music that shaped the work, while the sound carries pieces of the original performance. For those who saw the piece,maybe this brings back a memory and give you a visual grounding. For those who didn’t I hope it gives you a glimpse into the research, sounds, people, places, and stories living inside this project and myself.
Most importantly, this is for the women and girls whose lives, movement, memories, style, and stories I pulled from many whom are no longer with us, but whose stories remain deeply embedded in Milwaukee’s North Side and out hearts. 🕊️

Congrats to this year’s @angelaspulse Dancing While Black Fellows 👏🏽 and to every artist making, sharing, and taking up space. 🫶🏽
Check out their work at BAAD! This week Oct 2-3.
#ANorfSideChic #MilwaukeeNorthSide #DancingWhileBlack #ThickLikeMe #BlackDance taken in New York, New York by @thicklikeme.dance

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17 days ago

✨ IT’S TIME TO COME INTO FOCUS ✨
For the last 6 months, our TLM Ambassadors have been building something powerful…community, confidence, and connection as thick dancers. Now it’s time to celebrate everything they’ve created together.

Join us for “Into Focus: A TLM Ambassador Showcase” 🎬 a virtual gallery event honoring the growth and artistry built through the Ambassador Program.

This program was never just about the 6 months. It was about building peer support networks rooted in care and sparking creative collaboration. The formal program may be wrapping up, but the Thick Like Me family is just getting started. 💜

📅 October 18, 2026 🕓 4:00 PM EST 📍 Zoom

Come witness the journey. Come celebrate the process. See our ambassadors come Into Focus.

Link in bio to RSVP 🔗 by @thicklikeme.dance

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a month ago

Soaking up the sun at BK ❤️MJ! Two of the few things i love in life … baby i was outside… trying to enjoy as much as i can before the fall comes. by @thicklikeme.dance

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2 months ago

We’re stepping into a season of growth, gratitude, and bold creation. 💜✨

At Thick Like Me, we believe body liberation is built through community, care, and opportunity—and none of this work happens alone.

A heartfelt THANK YOU to our incredible partners and supporters:

✨ Greater Columbus Arts Council @gcac_cbus for funding our newest project, See Me. We can’t wait to share works-in-progress with you in May 2027.

✨ CUNY Dance Initiative @cdi_dance x Queensborough Community College @qccdance for welcoming us into residency as we continue developing See Me, while creating meaningful connections with students and sharing the Thick Like Me mission of body liberation.

✨ The Dr. Patty Legacy Foundation @drpattyslegacyfund for investing in the 2026 Thick Like Me Ambassador Program. Your support provides professional development opportunities for our Ambassadors and helps make our Virtual Gallery Showing in October 2026 possible.

✨ Tamisha Guy @tamishaguy and @huetape_ for generously donating KT Tape in our skin tones for our Ambassadors. Representation matters even in the details.

This is only the beginning. We have so much in store, and we can’t wait to bring you along for the journey.

🗓️ Save the Dates
• May–October 2026: Thick Like Me Ambassador Program
• October 2026: TLM Ambassador Virtual Gallery Showing
• June 2026–June 2027: CUNY Dance Initiative Residency
• May 2027: See Me Works-in-Process Showing | Columbus, Ohio

Thank you for believing in our vision, our artists, and our community. Stay tuned—beautiful things are on the horizon. 💜 by @thicklikeme.dance

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3 months ago

I’m back outside… with a few upgrades 😂💜

ACL rehab update: Your girl is officially on and off the brace! I’m back on the stationary bike, I’m walking again, going up stairs, down is hard, and yes… I have a little limp. I know, I know… I’m not supposed to be limping, but right now it’s giving ✨main character energy✨ (we’re working on it 😂).

Recovery has definitely humbled me, but I’m beyond grateful for all the love, prayers, check-ins, and encouragement. Y’all have carried me through. I been testing my social battery alone and with friends which is always a time. I love a field trip !!

Now it’s time to lock into a new workout and strength-training routine, keep this knee knee-ing, and get these creative juices flowing. Support @thicklikeme.dance . I’ve got some projects to dream up for the organization and for myself.

Slow motion is still motion(add Juvie UHHHH) Catch me outside… just don’t ask me to run. 😅🦵🏾💪🏾✨ by @thicklikeme.dance

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3 months ago

To my dearest first and only biological niece, Desharra Z’Nya Marie 😂 Johnson 💜🎓✨

As I’m writing this, I’m fighting back tears and feeling all the nostalgia.

I remember the day you were born. I saw you right before I headed off to the military, and from that moment, you became my Lady Bug 🐞. I called you that because you have your mama’s, your grandmama’s, and your Great-Grandmama Goudy’s eyes. Those beautiful eyes have always reminded me of the strong women you come from.

Today, seeing you graduate from high school feels surreal.

Words could never fully express how much I love and care for you, but I wanted to make a public declaration of just how proud I am of you. Your journey hasn’t always been easy, and words aren’t enough to describe everything you’ve experienced over these years, but you did it. And this is only the beginning… it’s up from here. 🙌🏾✨

Your brothers, James and Del’Monta, are proud of you. Your mother would be so proud. Your brother J’Karil would be proud too. I know they are covering you with wings of love, protection, and guidance every step of the way. 🕊️🤍

And as a family, we are all incredibly proud of the young woman you are becoming.

Being in and out of school, work, and life’s many responsibilities, I haven’t always been able to be as close to you as I desired, but I pray that we continue to flourish and grow our relationship over the years because I want you to know that I’m here for you. Always.

I absolutely love being your TT, and I can’t wait to continue watching you grow into the amazing woman you’re becoming.

And baby, I can’t wait for you to come visit me in New York so we can create even more memories together. 🗽💜

Keep shining, keep dreaming, and keep becoming all that you’re meant to be. my future medial assistant culinary chef.

I love you forever and always.

Love, TT 💜 XOXOXO

🎓✨ Congratulations, Graduate! ✨🎓

If y’all want to send some love and congratulations to my niece, her information is below. ⬇️💌

CashApp: $sharramariee0 by @thicklikeme.dance

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4 months ago

One week post op. And I’m in the trenches. 🩹🖤.
March 11th, I tore my ACL at work. April 24th, I had surgery at NYU’s Harkness Center for Dance Injury with Dr. Donald Rose. And today? I’m sitting here with a swollen knee that won’t hit 90°, a doctors appointment that left me feeling unseen and underestimated, and a spirit that is genuinely oscillating between “I got this” and “cut the cameras. I am DONE.” IYKYK 👀

Real talk!! healing alone is hard. Getting up and down by yourself when your body ain’t cooperating… it’s a lot. The cabin fever is real. The grief is real. The layers of depression quietly showing up? Also real. And watching y’all dancing on my timeline is simultaneously the most joyful and the most heartbreaking thing. I was supposed to be OUTSIDE. I had plans. 😭

But then, yall!!! My community. Friends stepping in to sub my classes while I’m on leave (because as much as it broke my heart, I could not pour from this particular sparkly broken cup). People pulling up, bringing food, sending funds, checking in. Y’all are carrying me right now and I don’t take that lightly. Not even a little bit.

So while I’m here, I’m building. I’m making digital collages on Pinterest, building out my exercise schedule, and looking for accountability partners to keep me on track. I also want to start exploring my voice,whether solo or with someone, so drop vocal lesson recommendations if you got them. PT starts soon which means I’ll actually be leaving the house more, and that alone feels like something to look forward to. In the meantime, send me your favorite books and videos. Fill my queue. Help me feed my mind while my body catches up. 📚🎬
This healing is layered and it won’t be linear. But we in it.

We healing. Slowly. Imperfectly. Together. 🙏🏾
#ACLRecovery #PostOpLife #DanceInjury #HealingIsNotLinear #WeekOne by @thicklikeme.dance

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6 months ago

🌺 Dance has always needed us. It just hasn't always acted like it.

"See Me" is a declaration that thick Black women dancing bodies belong in every space, every stage, every spotlight. Even in concert dance. Not as an exception, but as a standard. Not as trendy statements, but as valued artists pushing the field forward. We are dancers.

When you support this flower fundraiser, you're not just funding an idea. You're funding an embodied counter-narrative. You're saying: we see you, we believe you, you belong here.

Get your bulbs and help us bloom. 🌸 [LINK IN BIO]
#SeeMe #ThickLikeMe #bodyliberation
#BlackDancer #thick #Dancers #RepresentationMatters by @thicklikeme.dance

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5 months ago