A dancer, cultural producer, and educator— Yema Thomas is passionate about showcasing the arts in her community, and enjoys managing creative projects, traveling, and attending music and dance events in her spare time.

 

In 2018, Yema created a program called AfroHeat to promote dance and music of the African Diaspora within her community. Yema believes that no matter how far an individual has traveled from “home,” there will always be physical, spiritual, and conceptual ties that reconnect to ancestral roots. Through movement, she seeks to ground members of the diaspora within their subconscious cultural memory.

 

Yema specializes in partner dances such as Kizomba and Semba as well as contemporary dances like Afrohouse and Afrobeats.