January 2022 News Stories About Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination

The Golden Age of Nude Men. The Wall Street Journal. 26 January 2022.

Boston-area Intimacy Directors and Coordinators speak about their work. The Boston Globe. 3 January 2022.

The Meaning of Intimacy

When we talk about intimacy, what do we mean?

Often, when I talk about my work as an intimacy choreographer or intimacy coordinator, people also want to know- “What is the meaning of intimacy?”

Here are 2 definitions of intimacy, plus my own meaning of intimacy. Please note- all of these refer to onstage/onscreen intimacy.

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Interview about Consent in Dance Spaces

Did you catch me on IG live with Apolla Performance and Turning Point Dance? You can see the full discussion on boundaries, consent, agency, and touch in dance over on the Intimacy page. But here’s a teaser!

So What Does an Intimacy Choreographer DO?

Hopefully, by now, with Bridgerton putting Intimacy Coordination on the map, most folks know WHAT an Intimacy Professional is. But what does a job look like? The answer is, like most things “It depends!”

Lately, I’ve been getting calls for productions that are about to start, or have already started rehearsal. They have their cast, and they want me to come in and create a safe space to explore intimate movement. And this is great, and I love doing it! However, the job can be more than that, and is often more effective if I get to start earlier!

If a production hires me as soon as they know what show they are doing, and that they need an Intimacy Professional, I can help them create consent-based practices from even before day 1! Some of these things might look like:

  • Helping to craft or giving feedback on audition notices

  • Being present for auditions

  • Being present for callback- especially if touch may be part of the scene

  • Creating a breakdown of all intimate possibilities in the script (this doesn’t mean you have to use me for all of them, but I have found that most stories have waaaaaayyyyyyy more intimate moments than initially thought of)

  • Being a part of the scheduling process to handle the chosen moments with enough preparation and time

  • Attending launch events and talking to board and press about the production

  • Attending the first read-through

  • Conducting cast and/or company workshops on power and consent

  • Helping to create an atmosphere of transparency and trust

  • Having phone calls with actors to prep for work

All of these things could help the production be more cohesive and safe. They help build trust in the ensemble, with the Intimacy Professional as part of that. Much of this work I do not charge a separate fee for, because I consider it preparation for doing the best job I can do. So productions also get more for their investment when they bring me on from the top.

So, call me! And, for the quality of your production, the earlier, the better.

Motif Writing in Intimacy Choreography

A year of work, and another year of waiting, and my first peer-reviewed journal article has been published! In it I share my experience using Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis (LBMA) for Meaning-Making and Show Maintenance in Intimacy Choreographer for theatre productions. You can read it online in the Journal of Movement Arts Literacy.

Huge thanks to:

The cast and creative team of Measure for Measure’s In the Heights

The cast and creative team of TheatreLab’s The Glass Piano

My IMS cohort and faculty educators

Teresa Heiland, the editor of JMAL

June Intimacy Direction / Intimacy Coordination News

28 June 2021- How an Intimacy Coordinator Helps Actors Navigate Sex Scenes. Slate.com

7 June 2021- What does an Intimacy Coordinator Do? Cnn.com

6 June 2021- Michaela Coel’s speech after winning a BAFTA, honoring Intimacy Coordinator Ita O’Brien.

Pt. 2 of Power Dynamics in Dance

Last month we defined how Power Dynamics show up in dance classes and dance rehearsals. This month, I offer some ways dance teachers and choreographers might mitigate those power dynamics to help create consent-based dance spaces!

Find it in the DanceGeist ezine!

The article will link to Part 1.

The full series is linked on the Consulting page, as this is a resource given all my clients.

April Intimacy Direction / Intimacy Coordination News

March Intimacy Direction / Intimacy Coordination Articles

Power Dynamics in Dance

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.

Backstage Pass Interview with Boca Magazine!

I was thrilled to be interviewed this summer by Boca Magazine about my work on Theatre Lab’s To Fall In Love and Intimacy Direction in general.

The title cracks me up because I’m really the only one in Dade/Broward/Palm Beach doing this work! It’s easy to be premier that way! But huge shout out to my mentor Dan Granke in Tampa. Technically still South Florida, and they are much more gifted than I.

The piece appears in the February 2021 issue. Here’s a link to the online ezine!

Photo by Wide Eyed Studios.

Photo by Wide Eyed Studios.

January News Stories About Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination

Misuse of Power in Movie Sex Scenes. The Guardian. 31 January 2021.

To be clear, I find this piece HIGHLY problematic.

  1. It’s presentation would suggest that women cannot abuse power- this is obviously untrue.

  2. It invisibilizes non-binary intimacy coordinators, who definitely exist.

I include it here because it is getting shared a lot, and it does have a good summary of the role of an Intimacy Coordinator.

Phoebe Dynevor on Intimacy Coordination for Bridgerton. Backstage. 22 January 2021.

December News Stories about intimacy Direction, Intimacy Coordination. AKA: Bridgerton edition

Congrats to my friends and colleagues Enric Ortuño and Lizzy Talbot for their work as the Intimacy Coordination team on Netflix’s new Bridgerton Series.

Podcast on Consent, Intimacy, and Boundaries

I had the pleasure of speaking with Lauren RE Larkin on Sancta Colloquia very early in the pandemic. We talked about how what I know from training in intimacy direction applies to my work as an educator and all our lives as humans.

CW: sexual abuse, religious content

September News Stories about Intimacy Direction, Intimacy Coordination

What Intimacy Direction can Bring to Dance. Dance Magazine. September 2020.

What Playwrights can Learn from Intimacy Directors. A conversation with Gaby Labotka for Howlround. September 1, 2020.

What It’s Like To Be A Black Intimacy Coordinator In The Era Of Consent And Political Resistance. An interview with Tenice Divya Johnson and Sasha Smith. Elle Magazine. September 8 2020.

Tea and Sex Session on Intimacy Direction

Back in July I got to be a guest on the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum’s Thursday afternoon Tea and Sex sessions, talking about intimacy direction!

Here Melissa and I discuss the “what it is”. This is just the first few minutes of an hour-long conversation and interactive session with participants.

Nicole Perry is a guest on the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum's Tea and Sex Thursday afternoon session with Melissa Blundell-Osorio discussing what is intimacy dir...

I talk. A lot. Sometimes people let me talk on their shows.

And this is one of those times!

Jimmy Chrismon, an intimacy direction colleague, hosts ThedTalks, a theatre education podcast. He interviewed me about intimacy direction and Momentum Stage. Check it out here: https://thedtalks.com/podcast/

I have a few more podcast appearances coming up. Stay tuned!