Intimacy Coordination Workshop

Organized by the SW Intimacy Professionals co-learning collective (SWIP) in partnership with The Bear, a woman-led, full-service production company. This project is supported in part by the City of Austin Office of Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

Introductory Track:

• Consent and boundary best practices for performance
• How to work with actors, directors, and Intimacy Pros
• How to approach both staged violence and staged intimacy

Emerging Track:

• On-set dynamics and an IC's order of operations and workday flow
• How to work cross-departmentally with various film-set crew
• How to navigate common obstacles on large-scale productions

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS:

SW Intimacy Professionals (SWIP) is a regional co-learning and co-working collective for connecting and hiring intimacy professionals (Intimacy Coordinators, Choreographers/Directors, and Consultants) in the SW of the United States. SWIP allows Intimacy Professionals to connect, meet-up, and stay in communication about common goals/standards for our industry.

Founded by Alicia Topolnycky, an experienced Intimacy Coordinator based in Austin with over 30 intimacy credits under her belt, SWIP boasts 70 members and counting. All combined, SWIP members have worked on more than 150 productions. Their work has appeared at more than 90 film festivals and accumulated numerous awards and festival wins.

In the years to come, SWIP aims to form a manager-managed LLC, facilitate in-person meetups and networking opportunities in Austin, Albuquerque, and New Orleans; and create a directory/database of members accessible by hiring entities.

Join us as we shape the future of Staged Intimacy work in our region. Wherever you are on your journey towards becoming an IP, we’re glad you’re here!

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS:

Adam Noble is a professional actor and a movement specialist with over 25 years of national and international experience in theatre, opera and film. He is a co-founder of Intimacy Direction pillars and practices and was a Lead Instructor for Intimacy Directors International (IDI). Adam is a certified Intimacy Director through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC). A few of his notable credits include The Kennedy Center, The Alley Theatre, Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, and The Public Theatre’s “Shakespeare in the Park” in NYC.

For over a decade, his methodology, “Extreme Stage Physicality: Approaching Intimacy and Aggression,” has nurtured safe practices and influenced the work of performing artists. The E.S.P. is currently taught at academic institutions around the country.

Adam is Head of MFA Acting at The University of Houston, resident Fight Director and Intimacy Specialist for The Alley Theatre, a Fight Director and Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, and the Studio Movement Instructor for the prestigious Houston Grand Opera.

Adam will be teaching the Introductory track.

Ashley White is an award-winning director, fight & intimacy director, and teaching artist, with over 15 years of professional theatre experience. Ashley is a certified Intimacy Director through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC) and one of only 29 Intimacy Directors to have been certified by Intimacy Directors International (IDI). She has worked across the U.S. with over 40 intimacy credits, has provided Intimacy Coordination for shows on Amazon and the CW, and was the first-ever Intimacy Director hired at the Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center.

A sought-after instructor, Ashley regularly teaches Intimacy Workshops, and is the creator of "The Cycle of Consent," her approach to providing safe spaces that nurture creativity through human-first practices. She has taught hundreds of students and taught at every major school District in North Texas. When Ashley started doing theatrical intimacy work in 2012, she was one of a handful professionals researching and developing a methodology for this type of work.

Ashley is a Visiting Professor at Texas A&M University, Commerce, the Artistic Director at IMPRINT Theatreworks, an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and a Resident Teaching Artist at both the Booker T. Washington High School for Visual & Performing Arts and the Stomping Ground Training Center.

Ashley will be teaching the Emerging track.