Intimacy Coordination

and Direction

creating compelling and collaborative intimate moments for stage and screen.

Veronica Dress, CSE is an award winning Intimacy Director and Coordinator.

Drawing upon 15 years of movement experience, a background in musical theater, acting, and burlesque performance, Veronica’s approach is only enhanced by her expertise in holistic, trauma-informed sexuality and consent education. She is proud to have been trained as an Intimacy Director through Intimacy Directors and Coordinators’ Level 1 and 2 curriculum and has completed over 40 hours of training through their Intimacy Professional Accelerator Program.

After apprenticeship under certified Intimacy Directors who serve as mentors and peer support, Veronica has directed intimacy on stages and sets across the Southeast.

Knowing that power and privilege enter into even the most intentional artistic spaces, Veronica continues to learn and shift her approach through trainings on topics such as:

  • Mental Health First Aid

  • Anti-Racism and Decolonization

  • Consent Education

  • Gender and Sexuality

  • Restorative Justice Practices

  • Theater of the Oppressed Pedagogy

A man and woman in vintage clothing embrace and press their foreheads together on stage during a theatrical performance.

Recipient of

Chatham Life and Style’s Best Local Arts and Culture 2025

Excellence in Community Impact

for Intimacy Direction

photo by Media By Car, Much Ado About Nothing at Meredith College, 2025.

Contact Veronica to Collaborate
Intimacy Resume

What can an Intimacy Professional provide for your production?

Part choreographer, part advocate for actors, and part liaison between actors and production for scenes that involve nudity, hyper-exposed work, simulated sex acts, and/or intimate physical contact, an intimacy director creates a consent-forward space where rich, bold, and grounded physical stories can be told. They offer:

  • Connected choreography for sexual or otherwise intimate scenes between actors

  • Support in creating a rehearsal space rooted in consent, agency, comfort, boundaries, and trust

  • Resources and practices for actors as they navigate particularly intense scenes or roles.

A man and woman sitting on a stage floor, hugging, with the woman holding a smartphone, surrounded by colorful rugs, a quilt-covered bed, a pouf, and some weights.

photo by Kevin Lord

“The intimacy direction by Veronica Dress ensures that the connections between characters feel genuine and relatable, enhancing the audience's sense of intimacy with the story and its themes. This thoughtful balance of humor and sincerity invites the audience to engage deeply, seeing these characters in a new light.”

— Dani Daniela, Triangle Review, on Redbird Theatre’s production of Eureka Day

  • “Veronica has an inviting and playful spirit that permeates a room. She creates a calming atmosphere for the work to happen; our actors felt safe and supported during their sessions with her.”

    Lormarev Jones,

    Director + Certified Intimacy Director

  • “The way Veronica carries herself and shows up in the room invites others to check in with themselves throughout their shared interactions. She establishes herself as an advocate for safety and comfort in a space that is often nervous making or flat out scary. This allows others to return to the present moment, which makes for richer and more generative play and exploration.”

    Serayah Silver

    Stage Manager + Author

  • “You are utterly perfect in what you do, and made me feel so safe and comfortable with not only my scene partner, but also with my personal comfort with my character. Thank you so much for existing and being a part of this.”

    Raleigh-Based Actor

  • “This was my first experience working with an Intimacy Coordinator - and I’ll never go back. Veronica acknowledged the feelings, emotions, anxieties, and fears of my scene partner and I, helped us communicate our comfort levels, and helped block and nail down intimate “choreography” that not only made us feel comfortable, but also improved the moment theatrically.”

    Raleigh-Based Actor

  • “Veronica was amazing to work with. Veronica is a person first driven intimacy director. She empowers and protects those she works with in the most respectful and loving way. I learned so much about direction, intimacy and sexuality from Veronica while working with her. I would work with her again in a heartbeat.”

    Raleigh-Based Director

  • “I have had a lot of stage intimacy experiences that have been mishandled egregiously…Until Veronica came in, I had so much dread and stress surrounding how much intimacy would be included in the show. Within the first few minutes of meeting Veronica, I knew we were in great hands. She has such an immediately grounded, charming, and kind energy. She has such a professional manner but also found moments to have a sense of humor and help us break the ice. Veronica’s storytelling-forward approach gave us such freedom to deepen our understanding and the nuances of the relationship between our characters.”

    -Chapel Hill-based Actor

  • “Thanks to the skills of the cast and to intimacy coordinator Veronica Dress, the chemistry among the characters is always intensely strong and incredibly real.”

    -Kurt Benrud, Triangle Review

    on Stop Kiss at Justice Theater Project

Accountability

You can share your thoughts via anonymous feedback form. It can be difficult to let someone know they’ve harmed you. This form creates the physical space to do so with anonymity, if you choose.

I am committed to fostering spaces that challenge urgency and the abuse of power. To that end, I offer a few ways to share feedback on my work (and a space to share testimonials!).

If your concern is with something that occurred on an intimacy project, you can also contact the production company directly.