Intimacy Direction
Intimacy Workshop with The 14/48 Projects, Seattle, WA. Photo Credit: Joe Iano
"MAKE IT LESS WEIRD."
~Chelsea Pace, Intimacy Director and author of Staging Sex.
Since 2020 I have been working as an Intimacy Director choreographing Theatrical Intimacy for live performances. If you are interested in hiring me to choreograph or lead educational workshops work, please contact me.
Training:
- I have completed Foundations Levels 1 & 2 (Each level is a 6 week course) with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators.
- Currently over 51 hours of workshops with Theatrical Intimacy Education.
- I hold a certificate in Mental Health First Aid.
- I am a member of PNW Theatrical Intimacy a group of Intimacy Directors working in the PNW.
My Philosophy:
As I continue to work and train as an Intimacy Director, I strive to create consent-based spaces in rehearsal rooms and classrooms through the use of boundary practices, self-care tools, and desexualizing language surrounding Intimacy Choreography. These guiding practices empower actors by giving them tools to create healthy boundaries, closure practices, and ways to advocate for themselves in the creative process.
When choreographing scenes of intimacy, I aim to honor the actors’ impulses and the director’s vision within the stated boundaries of the actors. Collaboratively we can create choreography that is deeply embodied, dynamic, and repeatable. Imbedding these consent-based practices into our process and industry allows for exploration and powerful storytelling without draining the overall health and passion of the artists who portray it.
Intimacy Direction, recent projects:
Hurricane Diane, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
The 14/48 Projects (a new play festival,14 short plays), Seattle, WA
The Flick, Bellingham Theatre Works, Bellingham, WA
The Cake, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Duchess of Malfi, Western Washington University
Dinner with Friends, Bellingham Theatre Guild, Bellingham, WA
Hayfever, Western Washington University
Ride the Cyclone, Western Washington University
Book of Will, Western Washington University
Street Scene (opera), Western Washington University
what the gods gave me, Western Washington University
Stupid F**ing Bird, Student Theatre Productions (STP), Western Washington University
Happy Birthday, Wanda June, STP Western Washington University
Puffs, STP Western Washington University
The Cake, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas
Assistant Intimacy Direction (assisting Intimacy Director Jordan Rosin):
A Christmas Carol, ACT, Seattle, WA
POTUS, ACT, Seattle, WA
Email me for Intimacy Director resume
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Testimonial:
Megan Ahiers, Operations Director of the 14/48 Projects:
"Working with PNW Theatrical Intimacy is easy and collaborative. We have a unique festival and two collective members, Jordan Rosin and Sarah Harlett met with us, learned about our festival, and created a specialized and curated approach to offering Intimacy support for 7 different plays all rehearsing at once.
At our festival, the strategy employed by Jordan and Sarah, and later, additional ID's like Eva Gil and Ellie Hughes, allowed all 75 artists to quickly and responsibly create shared vocabulary around boundaries and consent. Actors were given permission to vocalize their needs. Directors were given tools to create safer spaces, and costumers were reminded to treat bodies with consent. Ellie, Eva, Sarah, and Jordan also read through scripts and identified possible sticking points, met with individual teams to help navigate physically and emotionally charged material and were on-call for anyone to check in.
All the artists we worked with raved about feeling heard, being allowed to have boundaries, and approaching difficult material with emotional safety and physical trust. They were flexible and creative in their approach, while also being accessible to many different people with unique needs in their scripts."