“Coming at a time of Sakha cultural re-evaluation and exploration, Mr. Riccio’s work here has contributed greatly to our awareness, lending a needed new perspective to our theatrical self-definition. In concurrence with the producer of both the Yakut Russian Theatre and the Sakha National Theatre, I have extended an invitation for Mr. Riccio to return to our Republic to continue his association with us.”

“For a week you were able to share with performers from throughout West Africa your knowledge and experience combining popular and traditional performance. Your workshops will no doubt have a profound impact and will be felt in the next generations of the companies from which these young performers belong. Your ability to bridge between your methods and the objectives of the festival made for a very successful exchange. My sincere thanks.”

“Riccio’s major focus was on teaching the actors how to use their bodies to understand and feel their characters. “Gestures and body language are part of the vocabulary of performers. You have to feel everything with the mind and the body. It is an important foundation for every actor,” ”

“Without Mr. Riccio’s tireless input this project would not have been possible. He has shown an uncanny ability of walking into a foreign culture and developing a theatre language that transcends all barriers.”

“II would like to thank you very much for coming and spending time with us. The students in Art and Society, Art Management and Administration, African Theatre and Art Communication and Social Mobilization where you taught were quite inspired by your lectures. The participants will never forget your Director’s Workshop and I hope that you will return someday to see their work. Your stay was short and we would really love to have you come for a longer period. You have such valuable experience that we would like you to share it with us and hopefully you can also add to that experience with your work here.”

“When I joined Tuma, I faced some of my greatest fears about why I felt like a sick person. Tuma and Tom Riccio changed me forever. My world began to open. Wrongs toward my people were being acknowledged, the power of the people who once were was being asked for, and it was safe for me to grieve and ask for myself. I was with Tuma for three years, and with every year, I grew. I became empowered, confident, and learned to focus my rage in a different way. Now I am more expressive and have a deeper understanding of what happened in my people’s past and what is happening now and what I can do about it.”

“The workshop’s focus was on reimaginging the performance of ourselves. What I discovered was that such a thing cannot be given a word, a compartment or a ‘logical’ explanation. What the workshop taught me was that the structure of knowing obstructs our ability to know. What stood out for me most was my need to embrace my own culture. To do so is to embrace elements intrinsic to what we call Western and move in and through them rather than to “cut them out’.”

“Thank you for the workshops you have conducted at the National Theatre of Kenya. Your workshops on creating puppets and objects, and presenting the story of AIDS, have been enriching as well as inspiring to Kenyan youth in general and artistes in particular. Thank you for your invaluable time and we look forward to having you once more for a longer period.”

“Thomas Riccio is an educator and scholar whose excellence emanates from within. His interaction with students and colleagues alike is sincere, enthusiastic, and soulful...he draws from personal experiences of growth cultivated through his world travels, life long research and scholarship, and diverse human interaction. His approach reflects that of Paulo Freire whose pedagogy nurtures learning from life experiences and the circumstances of daily life.”