Kirsten Baity (they/them/theirs)

Kirsten Baity is an intimacy director, sex educator, and teaching artist living in Chicago and working on a local and national scale. As an intimacy professional, they have trained with Theatrical Intimacy Education and are a proud member of the inaugural cohort of Intimacy Coordinators of Colors.  Selected choreography credits include Airline Highway (Illinois Wesleyan University), Sugar in Our Wounds (Richmond Triangle Players), Stonewallin’ (Richmond Triangle Players), and Rage Isn’t Free (The Youth Empowerment and Performance Project). Kirsten’s choreography specializes in LGBTQ+ intimacy, sexual violence, scenes of racial/cultural intensity, and work involving minors. Their work focuses on harm reduction and creating a culture of consent in every aspect of theatre-making; Kirsten’s practice centers around the joy and liberation of youth and marginalized people. Through Intimacy Coordinators of Colors, Kirsten has trained in inclusive Intimacy Practices for the Stage, Sexual Harassment Prevention, Unpacking Cultural Bias in Theatre Practices, Recognizing & Addressing Racial Trauma in Rehearsals, Justice Equity, and Diversity for Intimacy Professionals.  Kirsten is the Community Outreach coordinator for Intimacy Coordinators of Color.

Kirsten has served as a panelist for Zooming In Discussion of Staged Intimacy Beyond the Binary, The Athena Film Festival, and the Black Theatre Caucus Town Hall on Intimacy and Direction.

They have taught sex education to people ages twelve to twenty-four. Kirsten consulted on two curriculums to help young QTPOC people navigate the education system. They have also written scripts and developed workshops with The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, For Youth Inquiry, About Face Youth Theater, Playbuild Youth Intensive, Life Span, and Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline. 

David S. Leong (he/him/his)

Born and raised in Boston, MA, David S. Leong struggled during his first 18 years of life as a victim of family domestic violence. After hearing his high school guidance counselor tell his mother "he's not smart enough to go to college," David sought out mentors, therapists, and role models to help him break the spell of his family legacy and learn to not see himself as a failure. He is currently the only person in the U.S. who is a Certified Conflict Resolution Trainer and a Certified Fight Master.

David (former chair of the VCU Department of Theatre) currently serves on the faculty in the VCU School of EMBA program. His career in higher education also included faculty appointments at the Juilliard School, the University of Maryland, and Brandeis University. Over 50 of his former students now hold full-time faculty appointments in higher education across the U.S. His books Real World Presentations are used by thousands of college students and business professionals across the country.

David's fight choreography has appeared in over 20 Broadway, London West End, and NY Met Opera plays and musical including Billy Elliott, Porgy and Bess and Hamlet. His work has also been seen on the stages of nearly every major LORT theatre in America and in the Spring of 2022, David will choreograph Daniel Craig in the Broadway production of Macbeth.

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