Tessa Permar is a choreographer and intimacy coordinator based in Western Massachusetts. She specializes in accessible choreography and character movement for horror.

Tessa brings a sense of calm and grounding to any creative process. Decades spent dancing while fighting Lyme Disease have given her an abundant toolkit of creative and supportive approaches. She has worked in disability services as both an artist and an advocate, and is passionate about supporting creatives with disabilities both on screen and behind the camera.

Recently, Tessa has worked as intimacy coordinator and choreographer on a series of short films with Emerson College Graduate Students and Extended Family Productions. She co-produced and choreographed TICK, a horror satire, that premiered in 2026 at Dances with Films, NYC. Serving New England and the Tri-State area, Tessa works with early-career filmmakers and small to medium budget productions. She writes about dance, intimacy, and illness on her Substack: How To Be Sick.

Tessa is a graduate of Vassar College, the National Theater Institute, the MASA Dance Journey, and CINTIMA.