Helping creatives integrate the known & the unknown, the shadow & light, to reveal their singular gifts with curiosity, alchemy and heart.

 

 In life and art, we aren’t necessarily taught how to communicate with authenticity. Let me get you plugged in to the parts of yourself that live beneath the habitual and familiar, so you can express your talents with ease, clarity and passion.

 
 

Hey, I’m Kristen

A recent escapee from academia, I’m no longer beholden to the supersized resume.

Here’s me in a nutshell: I’m a kind, funny human, an actor, director, singer-songwriter, podcaster, and performance coach. I grew up in the great state of New Jersey, gave my heart to the Big Apple for 17 years while living the actor’s life, and recently took a detour through various institutions of higher learning, where I was enamored with the students, but not the university cages. So with the world’s best rescue dog, Ellie Cerelli, riding shotgun, I hit the road in search of a more balanced life. Today I split my time between Oklahoma City and New York City, teaching and coaching privately and pursuing my own creative work.

Performers, Writers
Public Speakers,
Creative Entrepreneurs…

Does this sound like you? →

  • You are long on technique but short on spontaneity

  • You lack trust in yourself or your process

  • You don’t have a process at all

  • You’ve lost yourself in myopic allegiance to one perspective, training method or school of thought

  • You’re disconnected from your body wisdom or shy away from making physical choices

  • You want to sharpen your text analysis skills or deepen your relationship to the written and spoken word

  • You need to expand your emotional palette or EQ

 
 

Services

Private Coaching

One-on-one sessions are tailored to your needs.

Group Classes

Join in person or online.

Workshops

Get a taste of something new or refresh an interest you’ve put on the back burner.

Consulting

My work includes team-building and executive performance coaching in corporate and non-profit environments. Contact me for inquiries and client list.

 

 My Method

I have studied many techniques and certified in the ones I’ve found most compelling, but I don’t subscribe to a rigid methodology because that simply doesn’t work for me. My process as an actor, coach and teacher is eclectic - a blending of the concrete and the ineffable. I’m also a seeker, with wide interests and a deep need to find connection between disparate things. You might say there’s only one thing I can guarantee about my “method” - it’s never boring.

 
Testimonials
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Kristen was my first ever acting teacher, and I am so glad she was the one who introduced me to the world of actor training. Not only does she have profound knowledge of this field (I took scene study, movement, and Linklater voice classes with her), she exudes professionalism and genuine care for her students. There is sensitivity and inclusivity in her teaching - Kristen ensures everyone feels seen and is comfortable in her classes. Without her, I would not be where I am today, pursuing my masters in acting. We all have a lot to learn from this woman.

– Meg Oikawa, actor, MFA candidate at Pace University

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Kristen Cerelli gave me a methodology that is at the core of my craft. She creates an ensemble of students through her intentional language, clear point of view, and technique-driven exercises. Kristen provides a balance between play and commitment, and has a unique ability to adapt to each student’s needs. She utilizes the environment to encourage freedom of expression while grounding the actor. This is especially true in her mastery of Scene Study. She inspires a passion in her students to fully embody a character’s psycho-physical state before, during, and after the scene. Kristen challenged me to grow without limits starting day one. Her commitment to her students’ growth and success is unrivaled.

– Gareth Daniel, actor

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When the rare talents which Kristen Cerelli possesses as a teacher and an artist are taken on their own, they're impressive. As an actress she displays confidence, imagination, and breadth, breathing life into Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, and modern musical theater with her very own humor and sensitivity. As a teacher she motivates her students to use their brains, their hearts and their bodies when exploring text by connecting them to the human experience. As a coach Kristen listens, intuits, analyses, and guides her clients to reach their goals everywhere from the corporate jungle to the New York stage. She is concise, funny, nurturing, whip smart, and unbelievably gifted.

– Blair Ross, actor, Broadway: My Fair Lady, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, 42nd Street; TV: The Last O.G., The Gilded Age, Search Party, Little Voice, Bull, Law & Order SVU

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Kristen truly taught me how significant it is to pay attention to the ‘why’ in my work. She led me to probe more deeply into my choices and the reasoning behind them. The second I started to do that, the better actor and scene partner I became.

– Laura Kariuki, actor, ABC’s The Wonder Years

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Kristen excels at providing the cerebral basics and building blocks to a concept and then pushing the actor to translate it into their bodies. Her intuitive teaching style extends from her work with scene study to her dialect coaching. As an actor who has a tendency to get into his own head, Kristen was able to get me thinking with my gut instinct rather than getting bogged down in my brain. Her sensitivity, patience, and ardent passion make her a magnetic and inspirational presence in the workspace, and create a safe space in which the actor can confidently test their limits.

– Jordan Kilgore, writer & actor

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My time with Kristen Cerelli as a mentor has been like no other. Kristen has a way of making you feel seen as an actor. You dive into the nitty gritty parts of yourself that only you’ve seen in the mirror and start to cultivate them into beautiful art. I truly believe that my junior and senior year of college was successful because she taught me how to trust my own vision as an artist. She is educated on all facets of acting: text analysis, voice and dialects, movement, and even contemporary work that is being devised in the moment. The best thing about her as a coach is that she gives you personalized feedback, something you would never find in a textbook. You will walk away from her coaching not only a better artist, but a better human.

– Sydney Epstein, actor

I’m Ready to Find My Authenticity

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