Intimacy Director & Coordinator | Director | Teaching Artist
LAUREN KIELE DELEON is an American-Uruguayan intimacy director & coordinator, teaching artist, and director from Miami, Florida. She holds a Master’s degree in Performance Studies from NYU with a thesis on Decolonizing Touch through Intimacy Direction.
She has taught consent and intimacy workshops at Laguardia High School, Washington Improv Theatre, SUNY Purchase Film and Theatre departments, NYU Tisch Applied Theatre Convergence, The Fled Collective, NYU Film (Intro. to Intimacy Coordination), The American Academy for Dramatic Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, and others. She has also served on multiple panels discussing Intimacy Direction at places including the Roundabout Emerging Director's Group.
While getting her BA in Theatre & Performance Directing and minor in Playwriting at SUNY Purchase, Lauren directed many productions in support of organizations including Planned Parenthood, My Sister’s Place, Standing Rock, and a non-profit she helped co-found called Mission Flint -- which partnered with The Public Theatre on Erika Dickerson-Despenza's play Cullud Wattah.
Currently, Lauren serves as Director of Continuing Education and Engagement at IDC Professionals, a Level 1&2 Teaching Artist, and a Teaching Assistant for the Level 3 Intimacy Direction and Coordination certification courses. She has been an adjunct graduate faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College teaching Intimacy in Performance and will be teaching at SUNY Purchase in the Spring of 2024.
Previously, Lauren served as the Individual Giving Associate at Manhattan Theatre Club, the Development Assistant at The Lark Theatre, a Resident Director at The Flea, and a member of Roundabout Theatre's 2019-20 Emerging Directors Group.
Lauren's intimacy choreography has been seen Off-Broadway at Repertorio Espanol, ART/NY Gural Theatre, and The Vineyard Theatre. Selected regional and off-off Broadway work has been seen at The Flea, Miami New Drama, The Fled, Weston Playhouse Theatre, The Kraine, Theatreworks Hartford, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and more!