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