"Tuaca Kelly — Tilda Swinton-y even while performing as 'the entire cast of Star Trek' — seemed comfortable portraying everything from Queen Elizabeth to an 8-year-old nerd." — BackStage West
I had the pleasure of co-producing events with Tuaca Kelly and witnessing her spoken word poetry in action, and I can wholeheartedly say that her presence is transformative. As a collaborator, Tuaca is a force of creativity and professionalism. She brings a clear vision, dedication, and adaptability to every project, ensuring that each event is impactful and meaningful.
As a spoken word artist, Tuaca has a rare gift for capturing deep emotions and delivering them with a raw authenticity that resonates powerfully with audiences. Her performances are not only beautifully crafted but are also deeply soulful, often leaving a lasting impression on those who experience them. Tuaca's ability to blend vulnerability with strength in her words creates a space for both personal reflection and collective connection.
I highly recommend Tuaca for any project that seeks to uplift, inspire, and engage. She has an incredible ability to bring people together through her artistry and her thoughtful, compassionate approach to collaboration."
- Evelina Kvartunaite, Founder of Circle K and Word Up Amsterdam
I recently experienced Tuaca's brilliance at a co-creation event. As a design thinking facilitator, I know the importance of opening events the right way. Tuaca spoke about 'genius listening,' and prepared participants to be fully present. Her own presence is a sweet combination of power and ebullience. I encourage everyone to consider Tuaca's art as a major contribution to any gathering - but especially in the corporate realm, where we can all use more self-reflection. It was the highlight of my day."
- Julie Krohner, Founder of Lighting Up Rooms, Social Scientist, TEDx Speaker
Tuaca makes deep, strong and embodied poetry that I can highly recommend for every occasion! She is a highlight of our professional events, creating a spot on tailor made piece every time!"
- Aafke de Groot, Hatch - Immersive Learning Experiences
Fan-boying over getting to share the stage with Tuaca Kelly.
Probably one of the most sensual and provocative poets you SHOULD have the pleasure of seeing."
- Phillip Melchers Ue, Canadian-Dutch Storyteller
I recently worked with Tuaca at an experiential learning event with Hatch and am already looking forward to working with her again. Tuaca has the rare ability to hold space for her powerful spoken word to do the transformational work in a way that feels both safe and challenging."
- Dr. Skyla Herod, Behavioral Neuroscientist , TEDx Speaker
Having participated in three workshop from Tuaca Kelly, I feel confident saying that I think few people have such a detailed understanding on both the craft and the way artists engage with their own work. The way she is able to connect with and uplift artists in their performance astonishes every time. Within seconds she is able to grasp the message at the core of a poem, the way in connects with the personal story of the writer and the best way to uplift both. Few people leave her workshops dry eyed, either seasoned or inexperienced. When I am stuck during preparation, I still reflect on the advice she gave me to find my voice. I would definitely recommend everyone to follow a workshop of hers." - Leonie de Waal
I immensely appreciated the workshop Tuaca gave. Tuaca prepared other spoken word artists and me for the Unwanted Words event called Poeting Queer History. Her approach to teaching reminded me of the classical music approach to education. Tuaca is aware of how posture and breath influence speaking, and not losing sight of the meaning of the spoken word pieces. She was adamant about using your body in service to the text. The most valuable thing I learned from Tuaca was how to be more nuanced and measured in spoken word performance. I tend to rely on speed and anger while performing, and Tuaca did not let me get away with that. She encouraged me to embody the characters I was conveying instead of hiding vulnerability behind sarcasm and anger. I will carry Tuaca's positive and constructive insistence on feeling and nuance far into my performance career, I'm sure. I recommend Tuaca's workshops or teaching sessions to spoken word artists who want to transition from writers to performers. Tuaca would be great at teaching public speakers, actors, and musicians. Specifically, performers who feel like their body is doing a disservice to presenting their art/point."- L. Prelas
'Through Tuaca's attentive and careful guidance we explored different dimensions of our performance. We learned tools to be grounded and tune into our body. Tuaca reminded us to serve the piece and stay true to our own artistic intention. She gave us detailed one on one feedback that worked for each individual in their way of performing. I learned a lot during this beautiful workshop that was fascilitated within a safe and loving environment." - Lau Zausten
I participated in the Poeting Queer History Workshop by Unwanted Words and this experience was an eye-opener for me. My previous performances at the open mic events of Unwanted Words were quite successful, but this workshop allowed me to improve my performance in many ways.
Tuaca coached us during the workshop in a number of areas. First, being aware of our bodies and how to be relaxed and embodied while performing in front of an audience. Second, being clear about the central theme of the work we are performing and which parts of this piece touch us, make us vulnerable or contain another emotion. And third, how to express this emotion and connect with the audience from that feeling.
Before I participated in this workshop, I felt like I was trying to present my work as well as possible. This workshop makes me feel much more like a performer, just like a good actor knows how to touch the audience with their interplay of body language and inflection, which enables them to embody the text at that moment. That embodiment of my work is the most important thing that this workshop has given me.
I was only able to achieve all this because Tuaca, in addition to her knowledge transfer, also knows how to create a safe space, in which there is room for experimenting and searching for the best performance, but also for everyone's insecurities and vulnerabilities. She knows how to put everyone at ease and thereby expand our comfort zone. I also liked that we all received clear take-aways to practice further.
I would definitely recommend the workshop to anyone who wants to touch an audience with words in some way, so spoken word artists, but also actors, writers or poets reading from their own work, speakers at symposia, etc. And if Tuaca organizes more workshops in the future, I would be happy to participate again." - Martijn Orlando
I enjoyed your workshop. I hadn’t done any theatre workshops in a very long time, so I think it took me a while to get comfortable in the setting and with the exercises. I think the individual exercises we tried were really helpful and I did feel more grounded after we’d worked on some of my performance. I also thought this workshop was a really good opportunity to bond with you and the other performers before the show; it made the poetry evening itself feel way more comfortable and relaxed. I think that aspect was also particularly important because it was a queer event centered around community (history). So fostering some sort of community in the run-up of the event seemed important and was well-done." - Parel Joy
"The workshop was incredibly valuable for my personal development and helped me face some fears. As someone who struggles with anxiety, stepping onto the stage has always been a daunting prospect, despite my love for performing. This workshop provided a safe environment for us to connect with our inner selves and discover our essence. It also allowed us to establish a safe space for exploration and growth with others.
During the workshop, I learned about letting go control over the audience and instead focusing on controlling my own performance. I came to understand that my position is to share something I have prepared with the audience, who are there to listen and engage with my work. Additionally, I gained insights into various techniques for delivering my work effectively, enabling me to experiment until I found a comfortable and authentic approach. As a result, I now aim to slow down my delivery, placing greater emphasis on the depth and meaning of my work.
Overall, this experience was immensely rewarding and equipped me with invaluable tips and tricks for bolstering my confidence." - Dane Prins
My experience in Tuaca's workshop was very wealthy; it continued to be on my mind for a few days after. This experience for me a difficult point about which posture to have on a stage, and how it communicates things. It can sound logical but i found challenging to activate, to feel . I could say that this workshop helped me lot and i think that i will suggest to other people and maybe attend myself an other time with a different type of text." - ANETH
(Edited for grammar/spelling.)
“I had a pleasure to host Tuaca as a guest speaker for my course "Political and Economic Development of the European Union and the Netherlands". Tuaca is an excellent speaker and educator. She really pays attention to student's engagement, always encourage students to contribute to the conversation. At the end of her sessions, I assign students to write a reflection on the content. Based on these reflections, I can definitely say that students really immerse in the content and enjoy learning. I highly recommend Tuaca as a speaker if you want your audience to be engaged and take away with fruit for thought” - Andrei Tarasov, PhD - CIEE Amsterdam
My husband and I asked Tuaca Kelly to write and perform an original bespoke poem on for our wedding. The poem, God Gave Me You, was such a beautiful surprise! The Love expressed in the personal poem touched our hearts and many others who have the honor to read this beautiful treasure.
With her enormous passion it is clear that Tuaca writes and performs with heart and soul and shines bright light on her audience. She is very talented and we definitely recommend Tuaca Kelly to perform during your event."
- M & F, newlyweds.
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