consent & Staged sexual Intimacy

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Consent and care have always been at the center of Joelle's work, so when she began to hear about new protocols to protect actors, she jumped in to learn them. Since then she has developed additional scaffolding exercises and techniques contributing to this new and quickly growing field.  

Consent & Intimacy Practical Work
  • Designed one of the first in the country higher education courses in Consent and Intimacy, adapting and creating extensive class materials and exercises.
  • Serve as Consent & Staged Intimacy consultant and Choreographer for Kansas State Theatre and Berry College.
  • Developed new exercises to scaffold Consent and Staged Intimacy Practices for undergraduate and/or less experienced actors, then shared this practical teaching research and resources with other theatre educators at ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education).
  • Developed Consent and Staged Intimacy departmental policies for Kansas State University Theatre.
  • Consulted with other university theatre departments on their Consent and Staged Intimacy policies and procedures.
  • Regularly conducts Consent and Staged Sexual Intimacy workshops for universities and community groups.

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In addition to 25 years centering consent in her work, training includes: 
  • “Staging Sex: Kissing,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, November 2023.
  • "Staging Sex: Outercourse,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, July 2023.
  • “Non-Consensual Intimacy,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, June 2023.
  • “Staging Sex: Power Play,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, March 2023.
  • “Culturally Competent Productions,” Intimacy Directors & Coordinators, December 2022.
  • “Foundations in Race, Intimacy and Consent,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, May 2022.
  • “Consent in the Acting Classroom,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, March 2022.
  • “Building a Culture of Consent” with April Sigman-Marx, Thumbprint Studios, March 2022.
  • “Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for Intimacy Professionals” with Chelsey Morgan, Intimacy Coordinators of Color, February 2022.
  •  “Staging Intercourse,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, February 2022.
  • Assessing Culturally Competent Spaces, IDC (Intimacy Directors & Coordinators), January 2022.
  • S.A.F.E. Zone: Nurturing Spaces of Belonging for All, training, Fall 2021.
  • Trauma Informed Campus & Classroom Certified, Spring 2021.
  • “Psychological First Aid,” Johns Hopkins, March 2021.
  • “Intimacy Coordination,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, November 2020.
  • “Intimacy Choreography,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, November 2020.
  • “Best Practices,” Theatrical Intimacy Education, September 2020.
  • “New Directions in Staging Intimacy” ATHE Preconference, August 2019.
  • “Intimacy for the Stage for Performers” with Tonia Sina from Intimacy Directors International, 2019.
  • “Intimacy for the Stage for Directors” with Tonia Sina from Intimacy Directors International, 2019.
Consent & Intimacy Scholarly Work
  1. Joelle's most recent internationally recognized research (both practical and academic) examines how the actor’s body responds in intimate scenes and how Intimacy Protocols affect the experience. After organizing and chairing an international panel discussion with the Stanislavsky Center on how Stanislavskian principles and Intimacy Protocols are compatible, she was asked to edit a book and write two chapters on the subject Stanislavsky and Intimacy November, 2023 (Routledge). She extends outreach in both these areas central to her work by serving as an editor for both The Journal of Consent-Based Performance and The Stanislavsky Center.  All these scholarly projects are based in practice and are intended as research into the pedagogy of acting, centering the care of the production team.
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