Michele Beaulieux: A Clear Voice for Group Accountability

The anthology, Resistance and Support: Contact Improvisation @ 50, features Michele Beaulieux's essay, Getting There from Here: A Road Map for Safer Brave Open Jams," which describes how to create "safer brave spaces" for dance gatherings by using the Beaulieu Test and Assessment to foster consent culture and support community accountability. The editor Ann Cooper Albright called Michele "one of the clearest voices" calling for group accountability in jams.

Video! The Foundational Value of Safer Brave Space

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1DuS1knv5U Michele Beaulieux presenting on "The Foundational Value of Safer Brave Space" I'm happy to announce my first video about my work on Safer Brave Space! In the video, I explain that the foundation for safer brave space is the value: "respect each other.” I suggest making “take care of yourself,” which is what some … Continue reading Video! The Foundational Value of Safer Brave Space →

On Being in the Footnotes of Famous Feminist Scholars

I was thrilled when the late University of Chicago Prof. Lauren Berlant sent me an email in late 2020 with the subject line: “one more thing: from my book bibliography :-).” The email contained an alphabetical list of publications by authors whose last names began with “B” including several by me! Their book, On the … Continue reading On Being in the Footnotes of Famous Feminist Scholars →

Victim-Survivors Are Doin’ It for Themselves, and That’s a Problem

Jam with Roland: Just Say "No" © 2019 Michele Beaulieux Oil Pastel on Paper Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics famously sang: "Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves." Widely hailed as a feminist anthem of empowerment, I'm now wondering why sisters ended up resorting to doin' it for themselves. Out of necessity, victim-survivors … Continue reading Victim-Survivors Are Doin’ It for Themselves, and That’s a Problem →

When Reform Doesn’t Work

Me, Michele Beaulieux, reading “What First Rule of CI?” (at 1:10) at the Reading Jam for Nancy Stark Smith. Behind me is the oil pastel series called "Jam Series" that I drew to illustrate my Contact Quarterly Contact Improvisation Newsletter articles about the First Rule. We're at an inflection point, asking fundamental questions about who … Continue reading When Reform Doesn’t Work →

Just Say “No” to Teachers Who Troll : Counterstory #2: Alternatives

Alternatives © 2020 Michele Beaulieux Oil pastel on paper How might Contact Improvisation (CI) groups respond to teachers who are known to troll? And by that I mean teachers who consciously and systematically search for sexual partners among students. I wrote two counterstories—stories with alternative outcomes that represent a moral shift away from the dominant cultural narrative—that imagine how … Continue reading Just Say “No” to Teachers Who Troll : Counterstory #2: Alternatives →

Published Work on Safer Brave Space

Jam with Maria: Listening for "Yes" #3 of 3 in Jam Series; Oil Pastel on Paper © 2019 Michele Beaulieux This post provides links presented in chronological order to my published work on preventing sexual violence and creating what I call "safer brave spaces"—places where being brave is as safe as possible—particularly in contact improvisation … Continue reading Published Work on Safer Brave Space →

The Shift from Rape Culture to Consent Culture

Chart showing the progression through the stages from rape culture to consent culture

This chart, “The Shift from Rape Culture to Consent Culture," lays out five possible states that groups might exhibit in how they handle sexual violence and other types of harm. The chart depicts two phases of rape culture and three phases of consent culture. The phases of rape culture—ignoring and reacting— support individual freedom, and … Continue reading The Shift from Rape Culture to Consent Culture →

The Beaulieu Tools for Creating Safer Brave Spaces

Help in finding and creating safer brave spaces for contact improvisation jams and other voluntary group gatherings Campfire Circle Ready for Us © 2021 Michele Beaulieux On this page, I provide tools for answering the question: Is a group gathering in which people are voluntarily participating a “safer brave space,"—a place where being brave is … Continue reading The Beaulieu Tools for Creating Safer Brave Spaces →