Intimacy Directing for Theatre Book Release Reading Wednesday 21 Februrary 2024
Channel: HowlRound Theatre Commons
Date: 2024-02-26

Celebrate the Release of the First Textbook to Address Intimacy and Consent Work in our Theatre Classrooms.

Dr Ayshia, Charlie Baker, Kaja Dunn, and Kimberly Senior invite you to celebrate the release of the first textbook to address intimacy and consent work in our theatre classrooms. This livestream event celebrates the book release of Intimacy Directing for Theatre: Creating a Culture of Consent in the Classroom and Beyond with selected readings from the textbook and a Q and A. The book ranked as a Top New Release on Amazon for several weeks upon its release and is a critical addition to the world of performance. The themes we will address include a letter to directors; intimacy directing and human rights; choreography with cultural competence; and transgender identity and intimacy work. Join us, and let’s make consent contagious!

Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson is an actor, scholar, activist, (intimacy) director, dancer, poet and award-winning writer from Brooklyn, NY. With an MFA from CalArts and a PhD from UMass Amherst, she uses theatre and performance to investigate pleasure, sexuality, and human rights. Her critical and creative work appears in Routledge,Black Camera, Qualitative Inquiry, Boston University Press, International Review of Qualitative Research, Theatre Topics, Howlround and Research in Drama Education. Dr. Ayshia has directed or intimacy directed productions at The Huntington, Fresh Ink Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre in NYC, Arts at the Armory (Somerville), The Rockwell, and the DC Black Theatre & Arts Festival. She is an Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and Women’s Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. Dr. Ayshia also hosts the Youtube channel for AfroGoddess Theatre & TV, the first TV network dedicated to celebrating Black women’s joy.

Kaja Dunn Resident Intimacy Choreographer and Cultural Consultant, Folger Theatre: Our Verse In Time To Come, The Reading Room; Arena Theatre; American Prophet, Denver Center for the Arts; Choir Boy, 5thAve and ACT Theatre (Seattle) Choir Boy, St. Louis Rep. Private Lives and Confederates, Two River Theatre: Wine In The Wilderness, Penumbra Theatre: Sugar In Our Wounds, Broadway: A Strange Loop (Assoc. Intimacy Director), Television: The Best Man; Final Chapters, Harlem, The Equalizer. Awards: Kennedy Center American Theatre Award, Playwrights Project Excellence in Arts Education. Publications: Arden Contemporary Shakespeare, Intimacy Direction For Theatre, Theatre Symposium, HowlRound, Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (UK). Associate Professor Carnegie Mellon University.

Kimberly Senior is a freelance director of theater and audio.  She directed the Pulitzer Prize winning, Tony nominated production of DISGRACED by Ayad Akhtar on Broadway and her work has been seen on over three dozen stages all over the country.  One of her favorite projects, on which she collaborated with Dr. Ayshia, was Kirsten Greenidge's Our Daughters, Like Pillars at the Huntington.  In audio, Kimberly directs aural experiences ranging from an evening with Dan Rather to episodic series for Marvel comics.  She's been awarded the Alan Schneider Award, the Einhorn award, multiple awards for her teaching and directing but her greatest joys are her two children, Noah and Delaney.  Kimberly is a member of the Goodman Theatre's artistic collective and is a proud union member with SDC.

Charlie Baker is an intimacy professional, lgbtqia+ advocate, and a founding member of Intimacy Professionals Education Collective. In 2016 Charlie began Xploring Gender as an open online gender education resource and platform. Charlie has been working as an intimacy director since 2018 with such theaters as Marriott, Court, and the University of Chicago, with guest residencies at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and American Blues Theater.