The Conversation (0)
Mimi Launder
Jan 03, 2018
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iStock / PeopleImages
If a film or play that requires the role of 'sex choreographer', you know you're in for an uncommonly racy ride - and an expertly produced one at that.
Yup, it turns out that someone out there is so dedicated to portraying sex accurately that they have forged a career out of it. And someone else out there is dedicated enough to hire them.
Yehuda Duenyas first found out he had a talent for getting actors out of their shells while directing a graphic play by Thomas Bradshaw in 2007, he explained to refinery29.
In 2015, Bradshaw phoned him again about yet another graphic production, Fulfillment.
Fulfillment required its actors to pretend to have sex on stage, naked. Duenyas' response?
According to refinery29, it was:
Great. I'll be a sex choreographer.
This is not a common job, nor does it come with a commonly accepted definition. But Westworld has used one, as did Wolf of Wall Street.
Duenyas told The New Yorkerthat his work was about creating a "safe space" for the actors, where they could work up to the heavy stuff slowly and when they were ready.
Sex choreography can also crop up under a more euphemistic name. For example, Tonia Sina is an intimacy choreographer who has worked on several stage productions.
Sina explained to Now Torontomagazine that she choreographs sex scenes for actors, rather than requiring them to improvise.
She said:
It really helps actors establish intimacy quickly and safely if they have techniques to help them find chemistry in the rehearsal process.
They’re really effective in helping build relationships onstage – and not just sexual ones.
She told The New York Times:
Once they have the skeleton of the scene, then the actors can feel free to improv within the moves that I’ve given them.
And there’s no surprises.
There’s no ‘Where is his hand going? Is he doing that on purpose? Is that him or is that the character? Do I have feelings for him now? Does he like me?’