I had the honor and collaborative joy of serving as intimacy director and movement director for Lovesong at Thinking Cap Theatre in their new space in Hollywood.
South Florida Theatre Magazine review
All the Folks that Need to Share my Silver Palm- Part 1
I am so honored to have the South Florida Theatre Community offer me a Silver Palm for my Intimacy work over the last year. I am very grateful for the way the community has embraced this work.
Read MoreBook Drop!
My first, and definitely not my last, book contribution combining my work in intimacy direction and dance is now available.
Check out “The Intimacy Coordinator’s Guidebook”, edited by Brooke M. Haney, with contributions from professionals in various specialties. My contributions can be found in chapter 16, specifically on academic dance and touch in dance. My contributions are alongside those of Intimacy Direction in Dance co-founder, Sarah Lozoff.
News for Intimacy Professionals (and those who need them!) in Florida
Florida Intimacy Professionals (FLIP) is pleased to announce their launch of an online database for qualified Intimacy Directors and Coordinators in Florida. The organization was created by professionals in live (theatre, opera, and dance) and recorded (film and TV) entertainment to promote the use of Intimacy Professionals, and also to demonstrate best practices in the entertainment industry. These professionals, specially trained in movement for story-telling and creating moments of contact, uphold performer boundaries while fulfilling the creative vision of the director.
Read MoreMiami Herald Photo Essay
Check out some photos of me at work with LakeHouseRanchdotPNG in this online story from the Miami Herald.
Photos and story by Lauren Witte.
Actors: Noelle Nichols and Samuel Krogh
New Photos and Videos up on Work Samples page
Head over to my Intimacy Choreography page to see photos from City Theatre’s Summer Shorts: Homegrown Edition, as well as the trailer for Jagged Mind, now available on Hulu!
Me, wearing my Intimacy Choreographer mask at Opening Night of City Theatre’s Summer Shorts: Homegrown Edition. Photo by Morgan Sofia Photography.
New Free Downloads
Over on the “Why Hire an Intimacy Choreographer” page, I’ve created 3 new, free, downloads that I think might be useful for theatre or dance companies or production companies or studios considering whether an Intimacy Choreographer is the right fit for the project, and what they can expect that to look like:
5 Questions to ask when Hiring an Intimacy Choreographer
Intimacy Coordination Overview
Intimacy Direction Overview
As this is my website, the views expressed on this page, that page, and in those documents are solely my own.
I'm an MFA!
Finally, 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 MoreMoney and Time
Money is a challenge for every artist. Despite the buzz around Intimacy work for theatre, film, dance, tv, and opera, payment remains a sticky subject for any Intimacy Director or Intimacy Coordinator.
Read More2022 in Review
2022 was a big year of work for me. Here’s my year in review!
Read MoreThe Thank You Speech I May Never Get to Give
Last night was the Silver Palm Awards, and just over two weeks away are the Carbonells. There were no speeches at the Silver Palms, and I do not expect to win the Carbonell in the category I was nominated for. (Not false humility. The video projection mappings nominated in Artistic Speciality were cool AF!)
So, I’ve decided to write and post a thank you speech here.And, best of all, there’s no time limit!
Read MoreCarbonell Nomination
Thank you the Carbonell judges and the South Florida theatre community for the nomination of Outstanding Achievement of an Artistic Speciality. And deep gratitude for the Theatre Lab team for putting the Intimacy Choreography for To Fall in Love forward for consideration, Lou Tyrrell for being an incredible collaborator, and Matt Stabile and Niki Fridh for being the beautiful, brilliant performers they are.
See all the nominees here.
Just like with the Silver Palm post below, I want to take this opportunity to point out that “Intimacy Direction supports good story-telling!” Because, honestly, being a part of a team that helped support these performances, is what the work is.
I was the Intimacy Director for 2 of the 6 of the nominees for Outstanding Production of a Play- GringoLandia and One in Two. These same two productions also appear in the Director category, and Stuart and Delicia were certainly outstanding to work with! UPDATE: Delicia won!
1/2 of the actors nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Male Role in a Play performed Intimacy Choreography- Tom in I Hate Hamlet and Nathaniel and Randall in One in Two. UPDATE: Tom won!
Two of the Lead Actress nominees performed Intimacy Choreography- Natalie Cordone in I Hate Hamlet and Lindsey Corey in Overactive Letdown. UPDATE: Natalie won!
GringoLandia and Overactive Letdown appear multiple times in the Supporting Actor and Actress categories. I Hate Hamlet and Overactive Letdown also gathered noms in technical categories.
Seeing productions and actors get noticed for doing work that some might consider “too choreographed”, “inauthentic”, or some of the countless other criticisms lobbed at this work is my reward. Intimacy Choreography, Intimacy Direction, make excellent art! If I get to give a speech, I shall shout this!
See the full list of nominees in the Broadway World Press Release here, and the explanation of changes here.
Announcing Intimacy Direction in Dance!
I came to Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination because of my work in theatre. I came to work in theatre as a choreographer and a dancer. Dance has always shaped the journeys of who I am and what I do. Since I started learning Intimacy Direction in 2018, and particularly once I met Sarah Lozoff, I had a goal of bringing Intimacy Direction to concert dance- especially ballet and modern. And now, we’re one step closer,
IntimacyDirectionInDance.com
Sarah and I, with the fantastic Renee Redding-Jones are excited to launch Intimacy Direction in Dance! We are here to let dance companies know that Intimacy Direction is available to them! And that there are professionals specifically trained in both dance and intimacy. The power dynamics, vocabulary, and performance demands of dance are all slightly different than those of theatre of film. So we want dance companies to work with folks who are well-versed in the dance performance, creation, and teaching worlds, so that the application of Intimacy Direction to dance performances is beneficial to dancers, choreographers, and audiences.
We are excited to get to work!
Intimacy Coordination in the News- August 2022
Emma Thompson Defends Intimacy Coordinators- The Guardian. 12 August 2022
“Interview with a Vampire” Series Team on Working with Intimacy Coordinators- Variety. 10 August 2022.
“West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler Defends Intimacy Coordinators after Sean Bean Criticism- The Guardian. 10 August 2022.
Amanda Seyfried Wishes she had an Intimacy Coordinator as a Teen- Variety. 9 August 2022.
What is a Boundary?
What is a Boundary?
“Boundaries” is a term that gets thrown around a lot in Intimacy work. But what, exactly, IS a boundary?
Check out my TikTok series on Boundaries!
A lot of times, we think about boundaries as “don’t touch my___!” And that’s valid! But, it’s also a VERY narrow definition. I like to think of Boundaries in 3 ways:
Content
Context
Physical
Content Boundaries
What are you performing? Are there content, themes, stories that you should not engage with, for your own well being? You may find certain things activating, or simply not be your favorite kind of story to tell. If you are working towards being anti-racist and equitable, you will have boundaries on representing characters who have been marginalized by the demographics you represent.
Context Boundaries
Where are you performing? And, who are you performing with? You may be fine being in a state of undress in a 3000 seat house, because the audience is far away from you, and not with undressing in a 100 seat house, where you and the audience can see each other’s pores! You may feel confident performing certain acts of simulated sex with a scene partner you’ve worked with before, but not be ready to do so with someone you just met.
Physical Boundaries
What is my body experiencing? I invite you to open up your idea of physical boundaries. Instead of just asking what you are willing to have done to your body, also ask:
What am I willing to have my body do?
What am I willing to do (with consent) to the bodies of others?
You may be up for all sorts of content, in all sorts of contexts, but never want your body to be suspended above the stage. You may feel confident in having your glutes slapped in the course of story-telling, but not want to perform that action on others.
If you found these questions helpful, head over to the Shop at MomentumStage.org and download the Boundaries Worksheet for FREE! Then you will have them at your fingertips the next time you go to an audition or take a call from your agent. Just use the code “TIKTOK” at checkout.
Intimacy Professional Office Hours
I’m holding two events for folks in South Florida Theatre and South Florida Film to be able to speak to an Intimacy Professional. This time is meant to discuss how an ID/IC can support a production, whether you are an actor, crew member, critic, or administrator.
Register over on the Events page for the one that you are interested in, or drop your question in the form, and I will answer it during our time together.
We are meeting virtually so folks from across the region can attend, and that folks who can’t attend can still get answers through the recording.
See you there!
Congratulations, Chris Molina!
I was really excited to see this week that Chris Molina was named Miami New Times Best Director for 2022!
Part of the win is because of Chris’s beautiful film, The Truth of a Thousand Nights, which I was honored to be the Intimacy Coordinator on. The Truth of a Thousand Nights also picked up a Grand Prize at the Miami Film Fest earlier this year.
But the other reason Chris won is because he is literally changing the face of Miami as a film town. In the past year Chris has created not 1, but 2 film festivals for Miami.
Chris is an incredible collaborator, and his work shows that. He is someone who knows that we are better together, and that when we build community and celebrate each other’s work, we all benefit. Chris is making the Miami film scene a better place to work, and I’m glad to know him!
Press Release for Borrowed, the Play, in Miami!
I’m honored to be a part of the team creating Borrowed, an immersive play in Miami, opening in late June. See my Events page for ticket info. Check out the Broadway World press release all about the play here.
The Meaning of Intimacy- Part 2
In an earlier post, I offered some different definitions of intimacy from various organizations in North America, as well as my own operating meaning of intimacy.
Something I left out of that post was “hyper-exposure”, which might be a new word for you! Hyper-exposure is the word that we use in intimacy to cover a lot of different situations. Here are some examples:
Read MoreApril 2022 News Stories about Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination
Bringing 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.