MISSION

Heartland Intimacy Design & Training's mission is to provide intensive theatrical intimacy training that is academic, accessible, and affordable.

Academic: Heartland provides participants with evidence-based research from the social sciences, psychology, and dramatic theory. This interdisciplinary approach provides context and data-driven solutions to staging intimacy, nudity, and sexual violence.
Accessible: Through its innovative online module training, Heartland offers in-depth intimacy training in the classroom, rehearsal hall, or in the comfort of your own home.
Affordable: Heartland is committed to offering training without additional costs of travel, lodging, and time away from work in order to get the training you need.

A masked woman holds up a purple dildo as other masked women look on in "What Happened While Hero was Dead" by Meghan Brown

WHY HEARTLAND?

The name Heartland Intimacy Design & Training came after several months of careful rumination over what theatrical intimacy should do, can do, and where it moves forward.

Many associate the word "Heartland" with the American Midwest. It is known as a location, but also an ideology. According to the Humanities Institute at The Ohio State University, the Heartland is"a collection of disparate communities held together more or less by a civic culture that transcends...differences, fashioned and buoyed by social engagement, and characterized by sustained public participation and philanthropic giving....It is a general focus on hard work, respect, and politeness." These core values--social engagement transcending differences, public participation, hard work, and respect--are central to the ideology of Heartland.

In addition, theatrical intimacy is often associated with matters of the heart. This work has the capacity to pull at the audience's heartstrings while protecting the hearts and minds of the artists in the process.

Picture of a man passionately kissing a woman in "Scab" by Sheila Callaghan

Meet the Team

Our highly qualified instructors are here to help you on your trauma-informed intimacy journey.

Founder, The Core Curriculum Instructor

Dr. Kate Busselle

Dr. Kate Busselle (she/her/hers) is the founder of Heartland Intimacy Design & Training. She has taught several workshops on staging intimacy, as well as designing intimacy for several productions. She is also one of the original co-founders of Theatrical Intimacy Education. She has written extensively on the topic of theatrical intimacy and de-roling and debriefing practices; her publications can be found in journals such as Theatre Topics, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Theatre/Practice, and Howlround Theatre Commons.

Kate is Assistant Professor of Movement, Intimacy, and Violence at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches foundational and advanced movement courses, stage combat, and theatrical intimacy best practices for performers and stage managers. She also serves as the resident violence and intimacy designer for all School of Drama productions, and provides mentorship opportunities to emerging intimacy professionals within the program. Kate is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD).

In addition to her violence and intimacy work, Kate is a Level 1 Margolis Method Certified Educator and is currently working towards her Level 2 Certification. Margolis Method, along with Viewpoints and Laban Effort Shapes, serve as the foundation of her movement-based acting classes.

As a researcher, Kate is invested in not only providing the tools of staging intimacy, but providing context as to how and why theatrical intimacy, nudity, and sexual violence needs to be staged.

Want to know more about Kate? Check out her website here.

Trauma-Informed Practices for K-12 Theatre Educators Instructor

Dr. Jimmy Chrismon

Dr. Jimmy Chrismon is a theatre educator with 17 years of experience in North and South Carolina public schools. He currently teaches full-time as an Associate Professor of Theatre Teacher Education at Illinois State University. He was an adjunct theatre faculty member at Winthrop University and Central Piedmont Community College.

He has acted, directed, designed, and produced professionally for 24 years. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Education from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow. He received his Master of Education Degree in Theatre Education from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He most recently completed his Doctor of Education Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Gardner-Webb University. His dissertation was entitled “A Study of Theatre Teacher and School Administrator Perceptions of Traits, Characteristics, and Instructional Practices and Their Possible Role in Teacher Evaluation.” He has also worked for The Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and The Lake Norman School of the Arts. He currently resides in Bloomington, Illinois. He received the 2022 Johnny Saldana Outstanding Theatre Education Professor Award from the American Alliance for Theatre Education.

He is the creator and host of THED Talks podcast with listeners in 98 countries. He has published articles in journals including Youth Theatre Journal, Drama Research, Pathways to Research in Education, World Federation of Education Associations, and The Journal of Educational Leadership in Action. He was recently selected to be a part of the first cohort in the Association of Mental Health Coordinators Certification program. Finally, his first book, Trauma-Informed Practices in 9-12 Theatre Edcuation will be published in Summer 2025 with Routledge Press.

His professional affiliations include The American Alliance for Theatre Education, The Illinois Theatre Association, The Southeastern Theatre Conference, and The Educational Theatre Association.

Windows of Tolerance Instructor

Dr. Hannah Fazio

Dr. Hannah Fazio is a writer, educator, and intimacy professional who recently finished her Ph.D. at Florida State University. Hannah holds a master’s degree in drama therapy from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in theatre and Hispanic studies from Hamilton College.

She has been teaching yoga for over a decade and trained as a trauma-informed instructor with the Justice Resource Institute.

Hannah’s writing has been published in Huffington Post, Theatre Topics, and Imagined Theatres. Her theatrical work has been featured at Bizarre Bushwick, The Living Gallery, Triad Theatre, Hamilton College, Florida State University, and Dixon Place.

Want to know more about Hannah? Check out her website here.