Alison Novelli
Alison Novelli | they/them | is an intimacy professional, facilitator, and consultant. They are passionate about decreasing stress and co-creating alchemically resilient artistic spaces. Alison practices cultural humility and takes an intersectional approach to all of their work.
As an intimacy professional, Alison is dedicated to creating dynamic stories of intimacy for stage and screen. They are committed to realizing a show’s creative vision with an emphasis on authenticity, dignity, and compassion.
Alison’s credits include Stephen King’s The Stand (CBS, assisting intimacy coordinator, P Lynn Johnson), Constance Tsang’s Blue Sun Palace (Cannes French Touch Prize Winner), Noah Millman’s Resentment, Cursed/Too Bad by King Princess, and numerous short films including Pillow Talk, Pair, and Ethnic Slut. For stage, Alison has intimacy directed for Josh Rhodes’ Cabaret at Asolo Rep, Dance Nation directed by Tea Alagíc, Three Sisters directed by Gisela Cardeñas, the queer comedies The Easiest Thing and 2 Queers… directed by Daniel Rattner, and more! They have extensive experience intimacy directing projects in every and all stages of development at Brooklyn’s Mercury Store.
As a workshop facilitator and consultant, Alison draws on their extensive theater background and professional education to facilitate with curiosity, compassion, and play. Alison specializes in decreasing stress, growing embodied self-awareness, consent, and increasing capacity for ease and challenge. Through a trauma-informed, resilience-oriented approach, Alison works with individuals, companies, and organizations to build sustainable and adaptive strategies, policies, and practices that are responsive to an ever-changing arts landscape.
Currently, Alison is partnered with The Jen Waldman Studio on Consent-Based Practices. They have facilitated and consulted with numerous organizations including Barnard College, The Jen Waldman Studio, Ring of Keys, Actors Equity Foundation, and the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema. Read more about their services here.
Selected Educational Background
Teachers College, Columbia University — Masters in Sexuality, Women, and Gender in Clinical Psychology and Education (focus on LGBTQIA+ issues & Trans+ Health)
The Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution — Professionals Certificate in Cooperation and Conflict Resolution
Certified Resilience Toolkit Facilitator — Lumos Transforms
Intimacy on Set
Theatrical Intimacy Ed
Association of Mental Health Coordinators — Under Mentorship
Wheel of Consent Practitioner — The School of Consent
The New York Peace Institute — Peaceful Mediation
For more on their artistic work, visit www.alisonnovelli.com
What People Are Saying
“Alison is the rare kind of collaborator whose contributions help both a project and its artists to evolve. They approach Intimacy as a creative opportunity, in which storytellers are empowered to explore dynamic choices informed by safety and consent. My collaboration with Alison began as a dialogue about staging Intimacy, but then transcended into a collectively shared conversation about care that empowered every artist in my room. My directorical experience became transcendent because Alison’s work is transcendent. If you work with Alison, your work will evolve.”
— é boylan, director, creator, composer
“Alison is a joyful, fun presence in a rehearsal process and a direct communicator. They're great at thinking creatively about their role in creating a brave room in which actors can push themselves while taking care of each others' (and their own) boundaries. Theatre is intimate! Alison can help."
— Skylar Fox, director, writer, & designer
“Alison's calm approach and understanding of what each of us presented to them was particularly encouraging and welcoming. They created an environment where I felt I could be present and safe.”
— Maria G.
“Alison is intelligent a.f, confident, curious, patient, warm, and fun to learn from. They hold space in a beautiful manner while also encouraging individuals to participate and explore at all levels of comfort. They are the true embodiment of resilience, so I felt safe and excited to learn about this with them as my guide.”
— Jenna P.