The impact of intimacy direction/choreography (or lack thereof) on students in educational theatre

(Photo: Alex Sutula)

by Kaila Roach

The following article was written as part of Chico State Theatre program’s Social Justice in Theatre course. For more information about Chico State Theatre please visit www.csuchico.edu

Picture this: you show up to your family reunion dinner. Your aunt sees you coming in and rushes over to you, saying, “Oh look how big you’ve gotten! Come here,” and pulls you in for a hug while planting a big, fat, wet one on your cheek. For some, this may be an example of a welcome encounter. For others, this may feel like a violation of their personal space. And still, for others, it may just depend on the day.

Has there ever been a time in your life when you wish you had felt you had the power to say no to a hug? A pat on the back? Someone touching your hair? Perhaps you wanted to say something but didn’t feel like you had the tools to do it. Maybe you felt like it was something that was expected of you, and saying no wasn’t an option.

As humans, we always have the right to say no and to express our boundaries. The craft of acting requires that actors live in imaginary circumstances. These circumstances, though imaginary, do not negate the fact that the humans who are playing a character deserve basic respect.

Acting is an art and a profession that sometimes requires more physical intimacy than others, and this is not something that should be taken lightly. Performers should be provided the tools to do their job safely and effectively. This means having some sort of an intimacy professional (“a choreographer, an advocate for actors, and a liaison between actors and production for scenes that involve nudity/hyper exposed work, simulated sex acts, and intimate physical contact” (“FAQs”)) involved in the rehearsal process for shows that require physical intimacy. More specifically, an intimacy choreographer or intimacy director is someone who would carry out this kind of direction for “theatre and live performance,” and an intimacy coordinator would do the same for “T.V and film” (“FAQs”).

Just as a chemist needs safety goggles to explore the full scope of their work, to go through with experiments involving potentially harmful substances/chemicals, the performer needs intimacy direction/choreography to perform to the best of their ability and feel protected from possible harm. Like a chemist without their safety goggles, the absence of an intimacy professional can have lasting, detrimental effects.

Having someone in the rehearsal room who is knowledgeable about directing intimacy is not a want, it is a need. In an article titled “Intimate Exchanges,” Carey Purcell discusses a situation that spurred an educator named Adam Noble into action: a student claimed she was sexually assaulted during a rehearsal in her scene partner’s dorm room. Thinking back, Noble said, “We were sending these kids off on their own devices with no foundation for how to approach this stuff” (Purcell). Thus, “Extreme Stage Physicality” was born, which “provide[d] students with a framework to address what he called in an article for The Fight Master magazine ‘scenarios of intense physicality’ with comfort and confidence” (Purcell). Noble noted that with this procedure set into place, “the number of reported incidents and problems dropped to zero” (Purcell).

College is a time when people are still exploring and learning about themselves, their bodies, and the world around them. They are realizing what they like and don’t like. They should be able to come into an educational space feeling like they can continue to learn, grow, and explore in a safe, guided way like they have the support they need to find and use their own agency.

In 2006, Tonia Sina, “creator of the Intimacy for the Stage method and co-founder and executive director of Intimacy Directors International,” coined the term “intimacy choreography” (Purcell). In the article, Purcell mentions, “While studying movement pedagogy, including clowning and mime, Sina was helping to choreograph intimate scenes in student-directed plays and found what she described as “a hole” in choreography and no resources to help with her work.” It appears as if no one questioned the need for fight choreography- of course, it seems dangerous to proceed without one, performers could get hurt. But what about someone who oversees intimacy? Aren’t they equally as important? Intimacy direction/choreography has gradually become a more popular subject, especially after 2017, when the movements #TimesUp and #MeToo gained widespread awareness (Villarreal).

Now, Amanda Villarreal, author of “The Evolution of Consent-Based Performance: A Literature Review,” states that “The work of an intimacy choreographer is to uphold ethical interactions by using consent-based practices, to empower performers with the agency to assert their personal boundaries, to level power imbalances in rehearsal and performance spaces, and to craft choreography for performed intimacy–all with an informed and culturally competent approach that supports both performers and the production.”

The presence of intimacy direction/choreography in educational theatre (and all theatre) is vital for several reasons. Susanne Shawyer and Kim Shivley, authors of “Education in Theatrical Intimacy as Ethical Practice for University Theatre,” discuss how students often feel the need to make their director happy (who is often seen as the person with the most influence in the room.) They also discuss how in an educational setting, the director is commonly more than just a director, but someone who is grading their work as well (Shawyer). In the article, they say “Hierarchies unquestioned in theatre training and replicated in the entertainment industry may encourage actors to believe that they work at the pleasure of the director or producer and discourage them from prioritizing their personal boundaries, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation” (Shawyer).

It is essential for students to know 1) how to stand up for themselves and 2) simply that they can do so before going out into the world. Chelsea Pace, author of Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy with contributions from Laura Rikard, mentions, "Actors are trained to say yes. Acting school is an exercise in saying yes to everything…By sending the message that an actor is a person that says 'yes,' and takes risks, it comes through loud and clear that a person looking to protect themselves and says no isn't cut out to be an actor" (7-8). The theatre industry needs to continue moving away from harmful power dynamics. Many people in the industry are becoming more aware of them. However, that doesn’t mean that they will never come up against them, and they should know how to conduct themselves when this does happen. Shawyer and Shivley also note, “Theatre educators should be aware of the potential for triggers and trauma responses in the acting classroom and rehearsal hall, and seek out tools to teach students how to establish physical and emotional boundaries that help distinguish self from character.”

Shawyer and Shively’s argument holds more weight when sexual violence statistics are considered. Unfortunately, “Student or not, college-age adults are at high risk for sexual violence,” and many students have already experienced some form of sexual assault in the past (“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics”). Moreover, the authors say “sensitivity to the potential for trauma response can benefit the entire acting ensemble” (Shawyer). In addition, it is important to take into account that navigating intimacy on stage can also be anxiety-producing and uncomfortable if the intimacy doesn’t align with your sexuality, as realized by Vida Manalang after observing what their peers experienced when they were working as an actor. An intimacy director/choreographer could provide their assistance with this type of situation, therefore preventing any harm that may occur.

It is essential that someone who is knowledgeable about intimacy direction/choreography is present for educational theatre productions so that best practices can be put into place, whether that’s hiring someone who is trained or having someone or multiple people who are part of the staff do more research on the topic and/or become trained or certified if possible.

Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy is a great resource for those that want to learn more about intimacy direction/choreography, and in the author’s words, “make it less weird” (Pace). According to Pace, “The goal is that in every rehearsal room, someone should have access to, and actually use, a system for staging intimacy, nudity, and sexual violence. The plan for making that happen is to have that person be you” (9). She goes on to explain that she is mainly directing this statement towards “directors, choreographers, and theatre teachers” but that it is also for “Actors, stage managers, and students” to gain a better understanding of how to advocate for ethical theatre environments (Pace 9).

Henry Bial, Department Chair of Theatre and Dance at the University of Kansas and the former President of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, believes Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy “should be required reading for any theatre maker- full stop” (Pace xiii). In addition, Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE) is an organization that offers many different workshops each year with the mission of “empower[ing] artists with the tools to ethically, efficiently, and effectively stage intimacy, nudity, and sexual violence” (“Mission”). On the Theatrical Intimacy Education Instagram page, they mention a “5 day intensive” program called the Educator Advocate Program. They explain, “If you’ve become your program or department’s go-to “intimacy person” and you’re seeking more knowledge, tools, and techniques on intimacy choreography and topics like consent, boundaries, and power dynamics to better support your department and your students, this might be a good fit for you” (@theatricalintimacyed). 

It is clear why intimacy direction/choreography is so important in theatre, especially educational theatre. The safety and well-being of theatre students are not up for negotiation. As Manalang says in her article “Intimacy Choreography And Youth Empowerment,” “The people making the art are more important than the art being made. The benefits of working with an intimacy director/choreographer and applying intimacy training are necessary to proactively combat emotional and/or physical traumas that may occur during the art-making process.”

The bottom line is that intimacy professionals need to be a part of shows where intimacy is involved so they can lead students on how to approach intimate scenes in a comfortable way and hone their power as artists in an educational setting. The next generation of artists is in the making. Whether you are involved in theatre or not, to those who resonated with this article, we have a responsibility to stand up for what we deserve, and to those in power in the theatre industry, you have a responsibility to ensure the safety of your theatre community.

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Works Cited 

“Actor leaning their head against another actor’s shoulder.” Kari Barclay, www.kari-barclay.com/intimacy. 

“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence. “FAQs.” Intimacy Directors & Coordinators, www.idcprofessionals.com/faqs. 

Manalang, Vida. “Intimacy Choreography And Youth Empowerment.” CREATIVE GENERATION, 25 June 2021, 

creative-generation.org/blog-1/intimacy-choreography-and-youth-empowerment. 

“Mission.” Theatrical Intimacy Education, Theatrical Intimacy Education 2020, www.theatricalintimacyed.com/mission. 

“MSU Takes Academic Lead in Emerging Field of Intimacy Direction.” Michigan State University Department of Theatre, Michigan State University, 3 June 2020, theatre.msu.edu/news/msu-takes-academic-lead-in-emerging-field-of-intimacy-direction/. 

Pace, Chelsea, and Laura Rikard. Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy. Routledge, 2020. 

Purcell, Carey. “Intimate Exchanges.” AMERICAN THEATRE, Theatre Communications Group, 24 Oct. 2018, www.americantheatre.org/2018/10/23/intimate-exchanges/. 

Shawyer, Susanne and Kim Shivley. “Education in Theatrical Intimacy as Ethical Practice for University Theatre.” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, vol. 34 no. 1, 2019, pp. 87-104. Project MUSE, doi: 10.1353/dtc.2019.0025. 

@theatricalintimacyed. “NEW PROGRAM ALERT.” Instagram, 

25 Feb. 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CaZ95KQrlYG/?utm_medium=copy_link Accessed 19 March 2022. 

Villarreal, Amanda Rose. “The Evolution of Consent-Based Performance: A Literature Review.” The Journal of Consent-Based Performance, vol. 1 no. 1, 31 Jan. 2022, pp. 5-23. https://doi.org/10.46787/jcbp.v1i1. PDF file.