IDC Movement & Physical Storytelling 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When choreographing touch that must read as spontaneous on camera but is precisely planned, an intimacy coordinator balances these demands by:
- Asking actors to improvise within a loosely defined physical zone
- Creating a detailed choreographic score that actors internalize until it feels organic (Correct answer)
- Having the director call out directions in real time during the take
- Limiting choreography to the moments the camera is rolling
Correct answer: Creating a detailed choreographic score that actors internalize until it feels organic
Thorough rehearsal of a precise score allows actors to internalize the choreography so it can be performed with spontaneous feeling while remaining technically consistent.
Question 2: The concept of 'kinesphere' in movement training refers to:
- The range of motion available to a performer's joints
- The sphere of space immediately surrounding a body that a person can reach without traveling (Correct answer)
- The emotional energy field projected by an actor during performance
- A measurement tool used in stunt coordination
Correct answer: The sphere of space immediately surrounding a body that a person can reach without traveling
Laban's kinesphere describes the immediate personal space bubble around a body—understanding its boundaries is critical when staging proximity and touch.
Question 3: In physical storytelling, 'weight exchange' between two performers primarily communicates:
- Power dynamics and levels of trust within the relationship (Correct answer)
- The physical fitness disparity between the two actors
- Technical competence in partnered movement
- The genre or tonal register of the scene
Correct answer: Power dynamics and levels of trust within the relationship
How two performers share, take, or withhold weight is a nuanced physical vocabulary for expressing trust, power, dependency, and relational dynamics.
Question 4: When an intimacy coordinator uses the language 'actor A initiates, actor B receives and redirects,' this instruction is describing:
- An improvisation game for ensemble warm-up
- A clear choreographic action structure that defines each actor's physical role in a moment (Correct answer)
- A conflict resolution strategy for actors who disagree about blocking
- The camera's role in capturing reactive performances
Correct answer: A clear choreographic action structure that defines each actor's physical role in a moment
Defining who initiates and who responds provides each actor with clear physical intention and prevents ambiguity about who is responsible for each movement.
Question 5: The 'Alexander Technique' principle most applicable to intimacy direction is:
- End-gaining, which encourages actors to focus on the result rather than the process
- Primary control, which emphasizes the head-neck-back relationship as foundational to all movement
- Use, which advocates for habitual movement patterns as the basis of character physicality
- Inhibition, which teaches actors to pause and observe habitual reactions before moving (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Inhibition, which teaches actors to pause and observe habitual reactions before moving
The Alexander Technique's principle of inhibition—pausing to interrupt habitual patterns before choosing a response—is directly applicable to consent-based, intentional physical work.
Question 6: A production requests that intimate choreography be altered after it has already been agreed upon with the actors. The intimacy coordinator must:
- Implement the change immediately to maintain the production schedule
- Consult only the director before making adjustments
- Return to the actors to renegotiate consent for the new choreography before it is performed (Correct answer)
- Document the request but wait until the next rehearsal day to address it
Correct answer: Return to the actors to renegotiate consent for the new choreography before it is performed
Any change to agreed-upon intimate choreography requires returning to the performers to re-establish consent before the new choreography is performed.
Question 7: The dramaturgical principle of 'physicalization of subtext' in intimate scenes means that:
- Actors must speak their character's inner thoughts aloud during blocking rehearsals
- Unspoken desires, fears, or intentions are expressed through the body rather than dialogue (Correct answer)
- Physical contact is used as a substitute for scenes that contain explicit language
- Choreography is derived directly from stage directions written in the script
Correct answer: Unspoken desires, fears, or intentions are expressed through the body rather than dialogue
Physicalizing subtext means giving bodily expression to what a character cannot or does not say aloud, making the body itself a narrative instrument.
IDC Movement & Physical Storytelling 5
When choreographing touch that must read as spontaneous on camera but is precisely planned, an intimacy coordinator balances these demands by: