Words are powerful tools for self-expression and for changing the world. WordSpeak, a project for teens, includes workshops, slams and performances in a Miami residency by by poet, novelist and essayist Dasha Kelly. Kelly comes to Miami to launch the eighth year of Tigertail's WordSpeak, an ongoing spoken word program for South Florida teens. Kelly will be in Miami from March 4 to 8, 2013 for a residency that includes school and community-based workshops and readings.

Dasha Kelly has appeared on HBO presents Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam, in Opium Magazine's Literary Death Match, at the National Performers Network Conference and with Grammy-nominated Angie Stone. Her writings have appeared in anthologies, text books, magazines and online, as well as three CD's of her own spoken word performances and poetry. She has been a freelance feature writer for Upscale, Black Enterprise and Milwaukee magazines. Dasha's first novel, All Fall Down (Syntax 2003), earned her a position on Written Word Magazine's Top Ten List of Up-and-Coming Writers of the Midwest. A featured story from her collection, Hershey Eats Peanuts (Penmanship Books 2009), was a finalist in the Abbey Hill Literary Awards. She is the most recent writer-in-residence selected for the prestigious Pfister Hotel. Dasha is working on her second novel and a new collection of essays.

During her residency week, Dasha Kelly will perform and lead workshops for students at North Miami Beach Senior High, Alonzo & Tracy Mourning Senior High, DASH, Hialeah Senior High and Miami Arts Charter. These WordSpeak events provide Miami teens the opportunity to learn more about spoken word as a way to express themselves, in an appealing medium that blends poetry, theater and hip hop culture.

Dasha Kelly's Miami visit includes an exciting WordSpeak open mic and slam for teens led by Dasha and Tigertail WordSpeak coach Teo Castellanos at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, 2000 Convention Center Dr., Miami Beach, on Thursday, March 7, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. A second open mic and slam will take place at the same location, Thursday, March 14 at 6:00pm led by Teo Castellanos. This is an opportunity for teens from 13 to 19 years old to read and perform their poetry in front of an audience. The slam is the first in a series of competitions to win a place on the Miami team sponsored by Tigertail Productions that will travel to Chicago this summer for the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival. "This team has helped me grow spiritually and intellectually. I'm surrounded by geniuses with diverse personalities and they all have a way with pushing you to be greater than you already are. Tigertail and WordSpeak were selling a dream and I bought it with poetry. I am forever grateful," said Giovanni Garced,a 2012 WordSpeak team member. Dasha Kelly will also give a reading and perform free for the general public at the Coral Gables Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, on Friday, March 8 at 8:00 pm.

Read more about Dasha Kelly at dashakelly.com

Dasha Kelly's residency and the WordSpeak program are made possible with targeted support from: Books & Books; The Children's Trust; City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Program; City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; ES Moore Family Foundation; The Children's Trust; John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; JPMorgan Chase; Miami Beach Botanical Garden; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Library; Miami River Inn; National Performance Network with major funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency) Altria, MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation; Publix SuperMarkets; Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and private supporters.

Season partners and supporters for Tigertail's 33nd season include: Aquarius Press; Books & Books; Bresaro Suites; The Children's Trust; City of Coral Gables Cultural Arts Program; City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Clarke Foundation; Consulate General of Brazil; Consulate General of the Netherlands; Consulate General of Japan; E.S. Moore Family Foundation; Florida Dance Association; Funding Arts Network; The Galler Group; Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; Japan Foundation; John S. & James L. Knight Foundation; JPMorgan Chase; MiamiArtZine; Miami Beach Botanical Garden; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Library; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Miami River Inn; National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; National Performance Network with major funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), Altria, MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation; Pridelines; Publix Super Markets Charities; Joseph H. & Florence A. Roblee Foundation; Safe Schools South Florida; The Law Office of Linda M. Smith; South Arts; State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; The Miami Foundation; VSA Florida; Vortex Communications; WDNA & WLRN FM; Wells Fargo and our many private supporters.