Born on July 31, 1987, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rick Coffey has spent his life performing, creating, connecting, and inspiring others. From the theater stages of his hometown to professional productions across the country, and eventually to the dance floors of Arizona, his journey has always been driven by one thing: a desire to make people feel something.
Today, Rick Coffey is a dance fitness instructor, performer, entrepreneur, and social media creator whose mission is to help people discover the joy of movement through dance. Through his work at Dance Fitness Tempe and his social media presence as @bigkidrick, Rick has built a community around the belief that fitness doesn’t have to feel like a chore. It can be joyful, expressive, empowering, and fun.
Rick’s love of performance began early. Growing up in Cincinnati, he discovered the magic of theater and quickly realized that performing allowed him to combine his love of music, storytelling, movement, and connection. While attending St. Xavier High School, Rick performed with Theatre Xavier, where he developed his skills as a performer and began to understand the profound impact a performer can have on an audience.
That passion continued at Kent State University, where Rick earned a BFA in Musical Theatre. His dedication to his education was exceptional. He graduated Summa Cum Laude, finished at the top of his class with a 4.0 GPA, and earned the distinction of having the highest accumulated credit hours.
But Rick wasn’t simply preparing for a career. He was preparing for a life onstage.
In his 20s, Rick moved to New York City to pursue theater professionally. And unlike the stereotypical story of an aspiring performer struggling to find work, Rick’s theater career was genuinely successful. He performed professionally, including appearances on national tours, and worked with numerous regional theaters across the country.
His professional credits included performances with The Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan, Theatre West Virginia, and Canterbury Summer Theatre in Michigan City, Indiana, among others. He was building the career he had dreamed about. There was every reason to believe that a long and successful future in theater was ahead of him.
And yet, something was missing.
Despite achieving the kind of professional success that many performers spend their entire lives pursuing, Rick Coffey found himself feeling unfulfilled.
It was a pivotal realization.
Rick still loved performing. He still loved music. He still loved being onstage. But he began to recognize that what he was really searching for wasn’t simply applause or another performance credit. He wanted a deeper connection with people. He wanted to create experiences that made people feel better about themselves and their lives.
That desire would eventually become intertwined with another deeply personal part of Rick’s story: his relationship with his own body.
For years, Rick struggled with his weight and body image. Like so many people, he had periods when he viewed his body primarily through the lens of what he believed was wrong with it—what he needed to change, what he wished looked different, and whether he felt he measured up to the expectations around him.
Dance fitness began to change that relationship.
Through dance, Rick gradually learned that movement didn’t have to be punishment for what his body had eaten or how his body looked. Movement could be an expression of gratitude for what his body could do. He began to understand that he didn’t have to wait until he reached some imagined “perfect” version of himself before he was worthy of confidence, joy, or celebration.
He learned to love his body while it was moving, changing, growing, and simply being his body.
That realization became one of the most important lessons Rick could share with others.
In 2016, Rick moved to Phoenix, Arizona, beginning a new chapter.
That chapter eventually led him to dance fitness.
Dance gave Rick a way to bring together everything he had spent years developing: performance, choreography, music, movement, humor, energy, and—most importantly—connection. But there was one major difference between performing in theater and teaching dance fitness.
In theater, the audience watches the performer.
In dance fitness, everyone gets to be the performer.
Rick discovered that he loved helping people experience the same freedom and joy that he had always felt onstage. He began teaching dance fitness and quickly realized that his true gift wasn’t simply dancing or performing. It was making other people feel comfortable enough to move.
His classes became about much more than choreography. They became about confidence—and about helping people rewrite the way they saw themselves.
Rick wanted people to understand that they didn’t need to be professional dancers, athletes, or fitness enthusiasts to enjoy movement. They didn’t need perfect bodies or perfect coordination. They didn’t need to lose weight before they were allowed to dance. They simply needed to show up and allow themselves to have fun.
Most importantly, Rick wanted them to understand the lesson he had spent years learning himself: you don’t have to earn the right to love your body.
That philosophy became central to Rick’s identity as @bigkidrick.
The name reflects the way Rick approaches life and movement: with enthusiasm, humor, playfulness, and a willingness to let go of the expectations that often keep adults from having fun. Through @bigkidrick, Rick began sharing dance, comedy, encouragement, body positivity, and messages of empowerment with an audience far beyond the walls of a studio.
His own experience with body image gives those messages a deeply personal meaning. Rick isn’t asking people to love their bodies because it sounds inspirational. He’s teaching something he has had to learn himself. He knows what it feels like to struggle with how you see yourself, and he knows the freedom that comes from realizing your body isn’t something you need to apologize for.
Instead, it is something you get to live in, move in, celebrate, and love.
But while dance was becoming an increasingly important part of Rick’s life, another life-changing chapter was unfolding.
In 2021, Rick met AK Coffey while volunteering at a dance studio in Old Town Scottsdale. Rick was teaching classes, helping manage the studio, creating videos, and working with social media. AK was attending a class that Rick was involved with, and over time, their relationship grew from a connection through dance into something much deeper.
They fell in love.
Eventually, dance would bring them together not only romantically, but professionally.
The idea of opening their own studio came from AK, and together they began turning that idea into reality. Finding the right space for Dance Fitness Tempe wasn’t easy. They had to consider the size and shape of the space, its location, neighboring businesses, air-conditioning, atmosphere, and whether it truly felt like the right home for their vision.
They persevered.
Together, Rick and AK opened Dance Fitness Tempe, creating a studio that reflected both of them. Rick brought his years of performing, choreography, teaching, and entertainment experience. AK brought her expertise in business consulting and her experience as an attorney, providing valuable business and legal knowledge.
But what they built together was about more than business.
Dance Fitness Tempe became a community.
At its heart is the same realization that transformed Rick’s own life: movement can change the way you feel about yourself.
Rick doesn’t want people to walk into his classes feeling like they need to fix themselves. He wants them to walk in knowing they already belong.
He calls it finding what moves you.
For some people, that means dancing for an hour and forgetting about everything else. For others, it’s discovering that they actually enjoy being active after years of believing they hated exercise. For someone else, it’s gaining the confidence to move without worrying about what anyone else thinks. And for many, it’s learning to look in the mirror with a little more kindness.
And for Rick, it represents the culmination of everything he has learned throughout his journey.
The theater taught Rick Coffey how to command a stage. New York taught him what it means to pursue a dream and achieve professional success. His years as a performer taught him the power of music, movement, storytelling, and connection. Dance fitness taught him that his greatest impact could come not from being the person everyone watches, but from helping other people discover what they’re capable of.
Through @bigkidrick, Rick continues to reach people far beyond his own classes. Through Dance Fitness Tempe, he creates a place where people can experience that philosophy in person.
His journey didn’t end when he stepped away from the theater.
In many ways, it finally began.
Because Rick discovered that the role he was meant to play wasn’t necessarily the one where he received the applause.
It was the one where he helped someone else find their confidence.
The person who once dreamed of being the star onstage ultimately discovered something even more meaningful: he could create a room full of stars.
And today, whether he’s teaching at Dance Fitness Tempe, creating a video as @bigkidrick, leading a class, or simply encouraging someone to move, Rick Coffey continues to do what he has always done.
He tells stories.
Only now, instead of telling the story himself, he helps everyone in the room become part of it.
And that may be the most inspiring performance of his life.
John Davis is a seasoned health journalist with expertise in public health and medical research. Holding a degree in health sciences, John excels in making complex health topics understandable and engaging for his readers. His articles, featured in top health publications, cover everything from cutting-edge treatments to public health policies. Outside of journalism, John is an advocate for health education and frequently speaks at community events.
