We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Perry recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I can’t say that there has been one most meaningful project. But I think there is a theme when it comes to the projects that stand out as meaningful to me, and that is creativity and collaboration.

I’ve been in a really interesting position in my Intimacy Choreography work that most of the plays I’ve worked on have been new plays, and all of the film and TV work I have done have been on original stories. There has been no, or little, “this is the way it is” or “the way we did it before” on these projects. So, I have been able to bring my most creative ideas and develop them in collaboration with the actors and directors.

In dance, this has been true as well. As a choreographer, I am making something new, and I always strive to do that in collaboration with the dancers, rather than impose my ideas on their bodies.

I have found that collaboration fuels creativity, and that my work is most fulfilling when artists are working together to create something new.

Nicole, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I did my undergraduate work in dance, and have been teaching dance and creating dance for concert dance and theatrical productions since 2005. It is actually my dance work that led me to Intimacy Choreography. As a movement educator, often working in theatrical settings, I noticed that movement around intimate scenes did not have the same professional tools as fight or dance work. I was also interested in collaborating with my students, rather than proscribing their movement. I found in Intimacy work the foundations of consent and movement really come together.

I pursued certification as an Intimacy Director (working in live performance) and an Intimacy Coordinator (working in recorded media), because I found in this work a resonance that I wanted to commit my working life, and my creative practice, to. I certified with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators in December 2020, and am now a teaching artist with them, teaching the next generation of Intimacy Professionals.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think a hugely harmful misconception people have around art is that suffering creates better art. No one should suffer for doing their work. We know that suffering doesn’t make better accountants….so why would it make better artists? Artists should be able to confidently pay their bills with their creative work. They should be able to have health care. They should be able to have time off (it is still work, and people need recuperation). Pay people fairly! Art work is real work!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My biggest unlearning, as a teacher and a creator, is the idea of a “right way” or a “best practice”. This idea of “one” or “best” upholds supremacist and hierarchical thinking, so its very harmful to collaboration and creativity. As a young dancer, I was definitely trying to look like the teacher/choreographer, impress them, do it their way. Instead, I could have been looking like me, finding my own way.

Now I like to say “I am not a cookbook, I don’t have recipes”. I have ideas, options, versions. And they work (or don’t) based on the needs, boundaries, visions, and goals of the other creatives in the room with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nicoleperry.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intimacychoreofl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MomentumStageFL
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/dancendrama1
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@intimacychoreofl

Image Credits
Feature image (Kunya Rowley, Nicole Perry, Marlo Rodriguez and Denzel McCausland for New City Players’ “Lungs”): Ryan Arnst Headshot: Amy Mahon Standing Actors (Liz Shivener and Alex Walton for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s “I Hate Hamlet”): Jason Nuttle Laying Actors (Marlo Rodriguez and Denzel McCausland for New City Players’ “Lungs”): Ryan Arnst Dancers (Joanna Asch, Yasmin Llevada and Ricky Morisseau in Nicole Perry’s “KINesphere”) : Nicole Hullett