Tomas Bell
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
"Tomas has really raised the bar in terms of the quality of presentations that we now have to offer our students. We have never had a presenter captivate a room of over 150 students for 2 hours. He was entertaining, educational and engaging. The workshop was much more than we expected." - Talent Buyer
"Tomas puts himself in your place and says he has as much to learn as teach. It really puts you at ease." - Talent Buyer
"He really knows his stuff. I like the fact that he incorporates his personal experiences. Makes it more real." - Talent Buyer
"It was the most fun I have ever had in a workshop. I love the way he disguised a team building workshop as a dance class. Brilliant!" - Talent Buyer
"I never went to a workshop like ISIM. It was so honest and real and the information was really helpful. I thought it was going to be another lecture but it was more like a group therapy session. I saw some of my class mates actually crying." - Talent Buyer
"This guy is incredible. He played a gay character and a thug on the same stage and it really seemed like two different people. I love the way he did the interaction between the characters and the audience. It was like we were on Oprah." - Talent Buyer
Discography
EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCES
All of performances and workshops are 75 min to 120 max in length. They can be staged anywhere and do not require elaborate setup.
- SLAVE: Touring since 1996, SLaVe is our critically acclaimed one-man performance which has traveled across the US at one point was the keynote presentation at Brown Universitys Black History Month Convocation.
The interactive play features two brothers, from two different worlds, on a local talk show trying to rebuild their relationship in light of their mother's recent death. The audience participates in this play by playing the studio audience of the talk show.
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- INTERVIEW WITH A MONSTER: This one man show is follows the HIV virus as it travels through 7 different people.
The audience is able to get inside the mind of this very matter of fact virus as it infects and replicates itself and slowly weakens it's hosts.
This is a powerful production, very popular around World AIDS Day and during LGBT Month.
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- PAGES FROM THE JOURNAL: A wealthy Black business man from Chicago finds the journal of a young black man from Chicago's SouthSide and learns that he has more in common with the young man than he previously thought.
This play appeared off-Broadway in Feb of 2006.
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- CHAINS: Three men from very different lives talk about being gay and what it means for them.
This performance takes a candid look at being openly gay, living the down low lifestyle, misogamy, internalized homophobia, and race, class and gender as it plays into ones sexual orientation.
The audience meets an openly gay man, a DL brotha, and the father of a gay man who was killed in the rural south.
This performance follows in the footsteps of the ever popular SLaVe and provides the audience with an interactive experience.
INTERACTIVE PRESENTATIONS:
- ISIM - Racism, Sexism and Homophobia, Recognizing and Understanding the Connections: This very popular presentation challenges participants to take a very personal look at their own "isms. Participants really "go there" sharing there attitudes towards race, gender and sexual orientation. The explore the words, actions, attitudes of themselves and their world.
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- INTERSECTIONS - Race, Class and Gender: This is a very popular workshop takes a look at how we classify ourselves and each other and explores the challenges that we face being members of various groups. We start with gender, race and sexual orientation and incorporate other classifications as the workshop develops. The focus of this workshop is to help the participants identify times, places and circumstances where they feel they must be more female or more Latino and how this affects them. We also explore the very nature of these classifications and what they mean to us personally. What does it really men to be a man? Am I black enough to even consider myself black?
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- HIP-HOP AND HOMOPHOBIA This very popular presentation explores the images, lyrics and messages of homophobia as found in hip-hop past and present. It also exposes the audience to homo-hop as LGBT artists struggle to find their place in todays hip-hop. This interactive presentation engages the participants, encouraging them to share their attitudes and opinions in a safe environment.
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- HIP-HOP AND SEXISM Has hip hop gone too far when a shock jock says he learned how to disrespect women by listening to rap music? What is the role of women in hip hop culture, as defined by women, as defined by men? With words like bitch and hoe being used freely in music, television and conversations by both men and women are we all just buying into sexual oppression? Or, is it all just entertainment? This presentation will become one of Tomas' most presented as it is a subject that needs further exploration - sexism and gender identification in hip hop culture and how it affects or is affected by popular culture.
This interactive presentation engages the participants, encouraging them to share their attitudes and opinions in a safe environment.
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- DEBUNKING THE DOUBLE STANDARD: If I am has many sexual partners hes a stud. But if a woman has many sexual partners, shes a slut!? This double standard as well as many others are explored in this powerful workshop which examines societies more hypocritical attitudes.
This workshop covers all cross sections of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and physical and mental ability as well as the religious and political attitudes which help to shape our culture today.
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- DIVERCITY: This team building workshop focuses on leadership development and teaches group leaders how to effectively draw upon the diversity of their organization in order to strengthen it and achieve group goals..
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- THERE IS NO I IN TEAM (BUT THERE IS AN ME): This team building
Photos
Bio
CURRENTLY BOOKING SPRING 2012.
Tomas Bell's well-seasoned presentation style provides audiences with a powerfully moving and memorable educational experience. Much more than a public speaker, Tomas is a performer, facilitator, radio personality and keynote presenter with over 13 years experience presenting diversity, multicultural, team building and leadership presentations to collegiate and corporate audiences across the US and Canada.
Tomas marries an engaging and interactive presentation style with well-researched material. His light hearted and humorous approach eases his audience and helps them to open up and share parts of themselves that they normally would not. As one attendee of the ISIM workshop once said, this was more like a town hall meeting. I didnt expect to come here and be so deeply affected. Im like so connected to everyone right now. Its like not even funny.
A true social philosopher, Tomas presents theory in a practical way by engaging students through real life scenarios. Whether you book an interactive presentation or a one man performance, your student body will be an integral part of the process.
Tomas believes that, A honest conversation which includes a comfortable degree of vulnerability is one of the many paths one uses to find ones self. If you are willing to share and listen as both are important for growth with an open heart and mind, you may be surprised at what you learn about yourself, your neighbor and your world.
Through Tomasian Entertainment LLC, Tomas offers a diverse range of options including 2 hour presentations and one man performances up to full day seminars. By combining his background in business, theatre, music and dance, Tomas creates multi-cultural presentations, workshops and performances that are unique, innovative, well researched and always well received.
His range of personal experience and professional expertise enhances his ability to relate to his audience, as he incorporates diversity, multiculturalism, identity development, leadership development, social justice, coalition building and team development into his performances, workshops and keynote presentations.
Whether you seek a traditional keynote address, an innovative workshop or an interactive one-man performance, Tomas' wealth of experience makes him the clear choice when considering your organizations next diversity, leadership or team building presenter.
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