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My dear friend and past theatre colleague Rebecca Vickers has a podcast called “Bad Bosses, Great Leaders” and she interviews leaders from a variety of industries to offer their insights and advice on what makes a leader, not just a boss.
Rebecca and I talked about psychological safety- what it is, how to create it and why it’s important.
Check out “Psychological Safety, Vulnerability, and Encouraging Creative Leadership” now here, or wherever you get your podcasts!
While I do have a book of my coming out (see below), I’ve also contributed to a couple that were published recently.
My colleagues and friends Elaine and Heather have a great book for dance and theatre teachers on incorporating consent-forward practices into the classroom. I was honored that they wanted to interview me for it, and extra-honored that when the New York Public Library interviewed them about the book, one of my quotes (one of my favorite things to say!) was featured. See the interview and get Consent Practices for Performing Arts Education.
Besides being interviewed for that book, and Intimacy Coordinator’s Guidebook which came out earlier in 2024 (see post about it below), I wrote a chapter for the latest installment in Routledge’s Applied Theatre series, Applied Theatre and Gender Justice! This book offers case studies and tools for using theatre to make the world a better place. This just came out and is on sale until January 6, so get it now!
The other day I tweeted (Xed?) “What is ‘unprofessional’ about care?” My difficult experiences at educational institutions, coupled with the stories shared by a few colleagues in educational institutions across the country, my other job as an intimacy coordinator, and my recent viewing of an episode of Murdoch Mysteries in which Dr. Ogden is fired because she prioritized the care of a patient of the ego of a male doctor led to this question.
The idea that care is unprofessional stems from a supremacist cultural normative ideal: a cis, heterosexual, white, able-bodied male. Performance Artist Johanna Hedva ([2016] 2022) wrote in her seminal essay on disability justice, Sick Woman Theory,
What is so destructive about this conception of wellness as the default, as the standard
mode of existence, is that it invents illness as temporary. When being sick is an abhorrence to the norm, it allows us to conceive of care and support in the same way.
Care and support, in this configuration, are only required sometimes. When sickness is temporary, care and support are not normal. (emphasis mine)
Care is not normal in our world. Which is exactly what makes care necessary.
Care, the arts, and teaching are all devalued in a society that values product over process. Our society is built on hierarchy, rather than community. However, if we are to humanize our profession, we must accept bodies and boundaries, and create community. Only through humanization will we prevent trauma and burn-out, and create an industry that values the artist as well as the art.
Hedva points out in the essay that part of the “problem” of care is gender. Women are often seen as needing more care, and are, professionally and domestically, more likely to be caregivers. An article in Scientific American concludes “According to ‘status value theory’, men's higher status in society means that men's roles and careers are given higher status than those of women. As a result, people value male-dominated domains more than female-dominated domains (Kaufman, 2020).” This specifically impacts care, as a report from Brunel University was summed up by its author “...the caring performed by a woman is often devalued as a 'natural' part of femininity…(Ward, 2005).”
Dance as a profession, is often gender-coded as “female”. Coupled with the caring profession of teaching, dance educators face a double devaluation of their work. This can be compounded with pedagogies that value consent and choice, methods that can receive pushback as “realistic” or “preparing students for the real world.”
As a teacher trainer, focused specifically on helping teachers at all grade levels develop pedagogies of care, I hear the above comments often. And my response is always, “We can acknowledge the world as it is, and work to change the world.”As creators, we make new worlds! We teach students to do this as they choreograph and perform. Students and teachers do not have to settle for the world as it is, especially when we know it is harmful and devalues humanity. An ethics of care, a pedagogy of care, a creative vision of care, demands that we see the humans beside us, in our classrooms and studios. Despite the pressures of society that would term care as “unprofessional”, I would suggest that care is the only way to create a sustainable classroom, rehearsal room, and dance industry. Care is necessary to be a professional.
In a workshop I led a few years ago on consent-forward spaces for acting teachers, in a rather famous US-based acting program, we touched briefly on the intersection of trauma- informed work with consent-forward work. One of the teachers, rather famous herself, responded that sometimes acting students are experiencing trauma or the reactivation of a trauma in the acting class, and they just need to “push through it, come out the other side, and use it to make them better actors.” I suggested to her that “if someone is experiencing trauma in your classroom, they are not actually learning. And, if they are not learning, you are not actually teaching. So, then, what are you doing?”
Trauma responses were developed for human survival. Dacher Keltner (2017) writes in The Power Paradox, “The human stress response is a dictatorial system, shutting down many other processes essential to our engagement in the world.... ...the chronic stress associated with powerlessness compromises just about every way a person might contribute to the world outside of fight-or-flight behavior” (151). When we are simply surviving, we do not have the energy to give to learning, deepening understanding or nuance, or creativity. Actively causing or allowing trauma will not create better art, better students, or better artists.
Choosing not to engage in work when trauma or harm occurs is professional. Trauma-informed teaching means that the power holder in the room must be aware that there are days that the work will not get done.The work that would get done in an activated state is not going to be our work anyway. An activated dancer may not even remember it, because their energy is being used for survival, not recall. Even if they do remember the work, it may cause activation when revisited, starting the cycle again. Sustainable work requires care.
If we are care-full educators, we must adjust our content and pedagogic methods so that we do not retraumatize or cause an additional trauma response in someone. “We cannot know everything that may activate everyone in our space. We can, however, take steps to make our spaces as welcoming to risk-taking and compassionate to complicated humans as possible” (Author, 2022. 25). As dance educators, ask them to explore those complications— their emotions, their past experiences, their relationships with others in the room, their relationship with their own body. Dance educators must practice care. To do anything less would be unprofessional.
2023 was a really creatively fulfilling year. I got to do so much in dance, intimacy, and movement direction, and I am so grateful to have had these opportunities.
TL;DR:
I did a lot of fun stuff with awesome people.
I work with students, who then become professional colleagues.
I work with director colleagues who value me, not just as box to check, but as movement artist who makes story better/more interesting/clearer.
Theatre improves your Spanish!
I interact with incredible artists, at the top of their craft. But my 2023 award for star collaborator goes to Morgan Parker.
Photos of all of these moments are on my Dance and Intimacy Choreography works sample pages.
January: I actually performed again, as well as choreographed for the 2nd "KINesphere", funded by the Broward County Cultural Division. I was also back at Theatre Lab ID'ing "Last Night in Inwood" by Alix Sobler, directed by Matt Stabile, featuring Aubrey Elson and Javon Jacobs.
February: I ID'd 3 shows: "Good People" at The Maltz Jupiter Theatre, "Chicken and Biscuits" with the incredible Bianca LaVerne Jones at Asolo Rep, and "Company" at NWSA.
March: I got to movement direct and choreograph as part of TheatreLab's New Play Festival. I also ID'd a Miami story, "Defacing Michael Jackson" at Miami New Drama.
I was also honored to be a speaker at the 40th annual Miami Film Festival, on Intimacy Coordination. I got to be with a wonderful creative and conversation partner, Chris Molina.
April: I had the honor of working on the Rolling World Premier of the incredible Spanish/English play-with-music, "Refuge" with friends and colleagues.
I also ventured into violence, as well as intimacy, for “Marisol” at NWSA.
May was a rest, which was great, because I needed to plan for my VAP position at FAU Department of Theatre & Dance, before jumping into rehearsals.
June: I had a blast with my second Summer Shorts at City Theatre. Extra bonus was working with Melissa Almaguer, Alex Alvarez, and Maha McCain on these.
A film I worked on the year before, "Jagged Mind" premiered in Miami at the American Black Film Festival, and then dropped on Hulu. It later makes Decidr's Top 10 List of Movie Sex Scenes for 2023! Masie Richardson-Sellars stars, with direction by Kelley Kali.
July: I met one of my new favorite humans and collaborators, Christopher Michaels! I did intimacy and violence for "Thrill Me", which he directed, starring Dylan Goike and Kevin Veloz. They were accompanied by Eric Alsford, and honestly, he and the 2 actors did NOT get enough love and notice this theatre season. They were perfection.
August: I got to work with Miami's hottest new theatre company, Lakehouseranchdotpng, on the world premier of "XOXO, Lola" starring Noelle Nichols and Samuel Krogh. Lauren Witte captured some of our rehearsals for the Miami Herald.
September: Was all about "Love! Valour! Compassion!". I worked my tail off on this one. Re-staging the "Little Swans" variation from "Swan Lake", creating a modern dance solo for Robert Koutras (who was flipping amazing at it), and collaborating with the legendary Michael Leeds on the intimate and violent moments. All of these actors were amazing and they ripped my heart out.
October: I FINALLY got to ID "Spring Awakening". It and "Romeo and Juliet" are like THE shows for IDs, and I've done R&J twice, so, it was time. This was for the BUTC at FAU. My favorite moment was actually the fantasy about the piano teacher. I am appreciative of the students' clear communication, bravery, and joy in the process.
A film I worked on the year before, "Pain Hustlers", also came to Netflix. I was the Miami unit IC.
November: At the end of October, I got to rejoin Bianca LaVerne Jones, this time in Philadelphia at the Lantern. I was so excited to come "home" to create the dance and intimacy for the powerful, beautiful "Crumbs from the Table of Joy".
I also did dance and intimacy for fun musical "9 to 5", at FAU. The dance captains, Sarah Sun Park and Marissa Spurr were invaluable, and working with Ted deChatelet and Caryl Ginsburg Fantel was a dream.
I also got to go back to the Lab, this time as the movement director for "The Berlin Diaries" as the forces that are Niki Fridh and Avi Hoffman tackled 14 characters in 85 minutes.
December: Was a month of joy as I watched Ballet 2 of FAU be more beautiful than I hoped in the fall dance concert. And right before the holidays, we closed "La Gringa" at City Theatre. This play exemplified the magic of theatre, for me. But also, the magic of the work I get to do.
During peak pandemic times, a colleague, Ali Duffy, at Texas Tech University had one of her undergrad classes interview dance makers with specific missions in their work. I was honored to be one, and to have that interview now published in an Open Educational Resource text available from Raider Press. Check it out!
Last month, Renee Redding-Jones and I, representing Intimacy Direction in Dance, joined a panel of dance educators, scientists, social workers, and mental health professionals on a panel for IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science) to discuss creating consent culture in dance.
IADMS has made the recording available, for free, for everyone. Watch it here.
Sadly, DanceGeist ezine will be going away soon. DG was a great alternative to competition, commercial-based dance publications, with its focus on Somatics, disruption, and community. Unfortunately, that also means it was hard to sustain. But, I have been given access to all of my pieces from DG! I have link the power and consent series here, and the rest of the articles are all over on the Dance page, if you scroll to the bottom. Enjoy and share!
Creating Consent Culture in Dance
originally published in the Dance Geist ezine, Feb-April 2021
Clock-time is a colonial construct, followed to support capitalism. We know that is only a construct, and that time is much more spiraling than linear. And yet, we have agreed to live in society following this guideline.
As a teacher or leader, I can’t create more time, but I can shift how we feel about time.
Read MoreLast week on my TikTok, I stitched a video in which 2 women were discussing the fact that grown women really only get parties for things that make them define their identity in relationship to someone else- getting married and giving birth.
So, I decided I wanted an MFA shower. Not a graduation party. I want to all grown folks to have showers. I’m reclaiming that word for all of us to be showered in celebration and congratulations for the big life achievements that matter to each of us.
So, later this spring (after all theses shows wrap) I will have a shower (And that thesis was labor.). And I’ve created a little registry if folks want to help me celebrate.
Read MoreFinally, after a long road of graduate exploration beginning in 2016, I am excited to share I officially hold a Master (hate it) of Fine Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts with concentrations in both Decolonial Arts Praxis and Performance Creation Concentrations from Goddard College.
This wasn’t a journey I took alone. The following is my acknowledgements page from my thesis, Working Consent: Ethical Engagement with Collaborators, Audiences, and the Land in Dance and Theatre Pedagogy and Practice.
Read MoreYesterday, I reposted an article from Dance Magazine on my Facebook feed, speaking to the use of “my” in dance class, aka, “my dancers”, “my dance”, etc. It caused some good discussion there, so I thought I’d share what I’ve already explored on this topic. The following is an excerpt from my thesis on the ways I am examining language in dance class.
Read MoreWe know, somewhere in our brains, when we see social media posts that we aren’t always getting the whole story. So, this post is my attempt to be transparent. To share the whole story, or at least another side of it. CW: depression, anxiety, negative self-talk, ED
Read MoreBringing Consent to Ballet, One Intimacy Workshop at a Time. 13 April 2022. Laura Cappelle for the New York Times.
The Impact of Intimacy Direction on Educational Theatre. 14 April 2022. Kaila Roach for On Stage Blog.
From DanceGeist’s May issue.
Read it here, and then leave me a comment with your thoughts!
Find it in the DanceGeist ezine!
It is my honor to be part of the inaugural issue of Sunshine Arts, a newsletter by Amy Mahon, of South Florida artists and events!
I was interviewed about my dance teaching at the University of Miami in the time of COVID. I focus specifically on using technology in modern and jazz dance classes.
Check it out for free here.
I am thrilled to be writing a 3-part series for DanceGeist Magazine about Power Dynamics in Dance.
The first part was released earlier this week in the February issue. Read it here. Catch part 2 about disrupting and divesting from harmful patters in March. Part 3 in April will look at consent-based practices.
The ezine is free, but does require a subscription. Get yours here.
Momentum Stage has just launched a new course I wrote combining my training in intimacy choreography, the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System and my years as both an educator and creator of movement.
This is to offer teaching options for those who are either encouraged or mandated to not touch in teaching. This is not a class about touching student. It is a class to consider IF touch is necessary, HOW do we teach without it (or very little of it), and WHEN/IF it is necessary, to make very specific choices in our type of touch in order to be as effective as possible with that touch.
Read MoreConsent isn’t about sex. It isn’t about touching, or feelings, or legal liability.
Consent is about seeing the other person in the conversation with you as a full person, with boundaries, agency, opinions, and rights.
In the performing arts, saying “yes”, whether we really mean it or not, has been reinforced over and over again. Especially for those on the performing end. We need to see “yes”, “no” and “I need more information” as equally valid answers.
Theatres are starting to incorporate consent work into scenes of an intimate nature. The work of Intimacy Directors International and Theatrical Intimacy Education has been to establish these practices. But what about other moments where consent should be requested?
Auditions
Theatres who hold auditions without disclosing the productions to be staged, and/or the characters available in those productions. I get that sometimes you are waiting for your rights, and you really need to have auditions. However, consistently holding auditions without telling performers what they are auditioning for is telling performers that their time, preferences, boundaries, and ability to ask questions that matter to them are of no importance to you. That you, as the producing entity, have the right to know what you are looking for, but they don’t. This continues traditional power structures and removes personal agency from your actors. This may not be what you’ve intended, but it is what happens; and it’s dehumanizing.
Teaching/Directing
A lot of choreographers and dance teachers especially, instruct with corrective touch. It’s a time honored tradition. However, with 1 in 6 women having been a victim of sexual assault, and approximately 60,000 children assaulted each year, touch from a stranger or authority figure may not be one of the best ways to teach groups any longer. Yoga is doing a better job with trauma-informed practice, and dance and theatre would do well to consider some of their solutions. At the very least, teachers/directors/choreographers should be asking before we touch anyone on any given day.
Somatic movement pioneer Irmgard Barteniefff said “Tension masks sensation.” If you see a student tensing before you correct them, is your touch even going to be useful? Could your corrections actually be more applicable to more people, if given with evocative language, rather than personal touch?
Check out this free resource about teaching with a trauma-/touch-informed lens. Purchase Touch card templates here.
Being an Audience
Does the audience know what they have agreed to when they enter your space? If your show is “immersive” or contains content that may offend someone, is your audience aware of that before they buy tickets? As they buy tickets? Enter your space? Or only after it has happened? And are they clear on whether or not they can interact with the performers, and the consequences of violating expectations? You may assume your audience has consented, simply by being in your space. But consent requires specific and clear information, and if that hasn’t been given, neither has consent.
How are you (or is your organization) approaching consent in artistic work? Leave a comment!
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