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About 

My storytelling style reflects my personality: quirky, gentle, understated, and silly. I don’t do slice of life.  

I seek the extraordinary in the ordinary as a Director, Movement Artist, and Intimacy Director.

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My art and research explore physical expression of identity, challenging social, historical, and gender norms and narratives, historical period movement, and movement as translation and adaptation. 

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My yoga practice focuses on cultivating stillness, releasing attachment, and exploring the difference between discomfort and pain.  

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 Artistic Highlights:​​​

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  • Choreographer - Emma - Kentucky Shakespeare, Louisville KY - 2026

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  • Director - As You Like It - Set in the 1920s American Circus - UofL Louisville KY - 2025

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  • Intimacy Choreographer - Anthropology - Sinclair College, Dayton, OH - 2025

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  • Director - TL;DR Thelma & Louise Dyke Remix - Pandora Productions, Louisville KY - 2025

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  • ​Intimacy Director certification with Intimacy Directors & Choreographers (IDC) - 2022-present

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Scholarly Publications

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​"Consciously building bridges: Team-teaching to merge and evolve actor training in Voice & Movement." Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies. December 2022.

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​​​​"Physical Dramaturgy for Griselda Gambaro's ​Information for Foreigners" in How to Teach a Play edited by Miriam Chirico & Kelly Younger - published by Bloomsbury, January 2020.​​

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​​"​What are you looking at? The Complication of the Male Gaze in Fin de Siècle Cancan & Big Spender from Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity." Spring 2018 Journal of Dance Education. 

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Notable Past Productions- 

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  • Choreographer - Pride & Prejudice by Kate Hamill- Kentucky Shakespeare, Louisville KY - 2023​​

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  • The Movement  - Voice Director ChoreShow Louisville Ballet -  2021

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  • Look What the Fire Did - Intimacy Consultant - Bunbury Theatre, Louisville KY - 2022​

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  • Dracula - Intimacy Director - Actors Theatre of Louisville - 2019.  

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Photo by Jason Coviello

© 2026 - JA Calvano

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