Stage Management and Intimacy Choreography

Catalog description

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the critical roles of stage management and intimacy choreography in contemporary theater, tv, and film. This course will take an in-depth look at the collaboration and relationship between the stage management team and the intimacy choreographer. What should that relationship be? Who is responsible for what during rehearsals and run of a show? How do stage managers help to maintain a show for a long run? When does the intimacy choreographer need to be consulted or called back into a show? When can and should the stage manager make the judgement call regarding intimacy choreography (especially when understudies go on at the last minute)? This course will discuss topics from Foundations of Consent-Based Practices through trauma-informed, anti-racism, and gender diversity in the rehearsal space and performance venue. Students will learn how to use desexualized and de-loaded language when documenting the choreography as set by the Intimacy Choreographer. This course also addresses why intimacy choreography is a necessity in modern productions, where physical closeness, intimacy, or simulated sex scenes require clear boundaries and safety for performers. Students will learn best practices in ensuring actor consent, emotional safety, and creating a supportive environment through choreographed scenes of intimacy. This course aims to empower students with the tools to foster collaboration and professionalism while maintaining respectful approaches to scenes involving personal boundaries.