Photo of Raja Benz in front of a black background smiling warmly towards the camera, wearing a red top, which matches the color of her lipstick and eyeshadow. She has visible tattoos in this photograph including the word "soft" at the top of her sternum, and a pink and blue traditional rose at the top of her right shoulder.
raja benz (she/her)
Cultural Competency, Trans & Non-Binary Intimacy, BDSM/Kink, Sex Work, Non-Monogamy
Primary Location: Philadelphia
Prioritizing work in: New York City, Washington D.C, Baltimore, Richmond, and Chicago, IL
www.RajaBenz.com
Raja Benz (she/her) is an intimacy professional, theatre-maker, and cultural consultant based in Philadelphia. Raja has worked professionally across a number of different projects, notably Swagger (AppleTV), and major theatre institutions including: Tectonic Theatre Project, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Virginia Repertory, and numerous universities including Penn State, Willamette University, University of South Carolina Upstate, and The University of Richmond. She is a Co-Founder of Queer & Trans Intimacy Education (QTIE) and specializes in intimacy as a queer praxis of organizing around care and liberation.
Raja is an Assistant Faculty member of Theatrical Intimacy Education, where she has co-designed courses including: Working with Trans & Non-Binary Artists, Staging Intimacy Beyond the Binary, Staging Sex: Polyamory, Non-Monogamy, and Playing in Groups, and Staging Sex: Sex Work on Stage & Screen. Further, Raja often teaches & assists for other courses including Best Practices for Theatrical Intimacy, Staging Sex: Power Play, and Consent in the Acting Classroom.
Beyond her work as an Intimacy Professional, Raja is a highly sought after educator. Raja holds a Certificate in Performance from the Moscow Art Theatre, as well as both a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Northern Illinois University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University. During her time at VCU, and in the years following, Raja worked as an Adjunct Professor teaching courses in movement and devised theatre.
Raja’s work is deeply rooted in a history of queer people of color organizing and navigating issues of consent and autonomy that extends well beyond the existence of the intimacy field. For more information, including Raja’s recent and upcoming publications please visit RajaBenz.com.