I’m of the belief that a good intimacy coordinator’s education should be well-rounded to best care for the diverse array of actors and crews they may work with. A commitment to harm-reduction and intersectionality is fundamental to how I’ve approached this research and my work as an intimacy coordinator. That’s why this page includes not only resources specifically about intimacy choreography, but information relating to trauma, gender/sexuality studies, anti-racism, disability advocacy, and more. It is important to me to stay grounded in the activist principles of the #MeToo movement our field grew alongside. To me, this role is rooted in activist philosophy meant to disrupt existing power dynamics and hierarchies in favor of more equitable practices, alongside artistic expertise.
After sitting on a draft of a resource document for months, I saw that I was tempted to only list resources I had read every page of and “approved” of 100% of. Then, I realized how silly that instinct was, and how it was rooted in a sense of ownership and control of the prospective viewer’s learning, and an insecurity about how the work I put forward may reflect on me. When I prioritized your learning over my ego, I realized you don’t need to wait for someone else to sign off on something to see if it can benefit your practice, and I’m still learning, too, so who am I to say? With that in mind, please view these lists as piles to sort through in a big friendly library and take/toss what you will as a jumping off point for your research.
On a technical note, I chose to create my Booklists on the service Storygraph so that the books can have multiple tags and be filtered to your interests and preferences. Re accessibility of those books- please utilize your local library and support authors when you can. If you cannot, pdf’s and other file-types of some of these titles can supposedly be accessed here.
Please reach out if you have any additions to this page, or if you’d like to discuss something you’ve learned!
This list is a living document, last updated June, 2023.
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Intimacy Coordination/Direction
Movement and Choreography
Film
Theatre
Anti-Racism, Anti-Colonialism
Lenapehoking- "NYC"
Disability
LGBTQ
Bystander Intervention/Conflict Mediation
Trauma and Mental Health
Sexuality
Feminism
Non-Violent Communication/Leadership
Consent
Activism