KATE BUSSELLE

Educator. Scholar. Artist.

Kate (she/her/hers) is the founder of Heartland Intimacy Design & Training, an intimacy training company which offers academic, accessible, and affordable intimacy training entirely online. 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. 

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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) with certifications in unarmed combat, rapier & dagger, quarterstaff, single sword, broadsword, broadsword and shield, knife, smallsword, and theatrical firearms safety.

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. 

Kate's national theatre involvement includes serving as the Vice President for the Women and Theatre Program, which aims to foster both research and production of feminist, anti-racist, and queer theatre activities and praxis. She is also a member of the Association of Movement Theatre Educators (ATME), which also falls under the umbrella of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).

Kate completed her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Missouri in 2019, making her the first intimacy professional with a doctorate. Kate is also a director, primarily directing all femme productions that challenge or subvert gender performance and violence, play reading festivals, and regional semi-professional theatre.