Veronica Dress
By Veronica Dress
Bringing pleasure + play to the most intimate parts of life: on + off the stage
Climate Change
Friendship
Music
Storytelling
Dating
Censorship
Mental Health
Creativity
Theatre
"Theater is a place where people...are exploring new ways of being. That's why I call it the Dress Rehearsal...a place where we can be like, okay, what would it look like to try some stuff on, try some new ways of being and see what actuall...
#FindAGuest / #BeAGuest
Sport
"Math and sports probably are the things that don't matter to me. It doesn't matter. My dad will be very upset. I come from Eagles territory, so culturally it matters, but not to me."
Mathematics
Pizza
Pickleball
Bringing pleasure + play to the most intimate parts of life: on + off the stage
Sexuality educator, coach, and theater-kid turned intimacy director, I am a sucker for the rehearsal space. In a world of fake-it-til-you-make-it and everyone-knows-what-they’re-doing-but-me, a rehearsal space is a sweet exhale. It’s a space where you get to be curious, imperfect, learn, and try out new ways of thinking + being in your sexuality and relationships. Maybe— just maybe—you’ll discover information and ideas that support you in living a life of sexual and intimate authenticity. And, believe me, I come to this work having felt the same way. I left high school with no sex ed. That’s a lie— I went to Chastity day. No, you didn’t misread that. It was a day for all 7th graders to learn about abstaining from sex until marriage using tape, chewed gum, and crumpled flowers as metaphors for our sinful sexual acts. Cut to: me, crying on the floor of my kitchen in Nashville, TN. I was 25 years old, in the throws of a break up, and adrift. I was beginning to understand my queer identity and had no idea what I was doing. I only had shamey chewed gum sex ed! This was not going to serve me as I unlearned and relearned what I wanted in my sexual and romantic life. This was the scene set as I began as a sexuality educator. I somehow convinced them to hire me, teach me all the sex ed I never received, and then teach me how to teach it. It was a tall order, but my commitment to young people, justice, and firsthand understanding of how deeply valuable shame-free sex ed could be secured the role. And it changed everything. I started learning about sexuality, bodies, pleasure, gender, and queerness for the first time. I was coming home from work and teaching my roommates all the sex ed I was getting at work (because they, too, never got this info in school). A fire was burning in me that knew spaces to be curious and open about sex, intimacy, and love were a part of liberation work. So, I went back to school. I enrolled in University of Michigan’s Sexual Health Certificate program. I learned from leaders in the field. I read SO many articles. I received hours of supervision. And I lived to tell the tale! Because I just couldn’t stop learning, I also got my coaching certification and trained to be a theatrical Intimacy Director at the same time. Silly V, doing the most. Now, as an (overly) certified human, I work with folks exploring their sexualities in countless ways, whether on stage, in the rehearsal room, or in a coaching session.