Saara Rei is a performance artist and workshop facilitator with a professional background in music, dance, education, and public speaking.
Saara Rei has been performing as a dancer and classical musician since early childhood. With that, performance has always seemed to be a natural part of life for her. Saara's performance style varies greatly depending on her audience and those she is performing with, as she views performance as a genuine collaboration between all those on stage and their witnesses. She has a personal taste for the absurd, the extreme, and the disturbing, and often likes to explore themes that aim to provoke dark and contradictory, dissonant feelings.
Saara has been practicing Japanese-inspired rope bondage since 2014. She believes that it's impossible for two people tying together to hide what is truly there between them, and that this guarantied vulnerability is what's truly special about ropes. Saara is an experienced rope bottom who is grateful to have gotten the chance to tie with so many wonderful, talented people around the world that have taught her so much about herself and about being in rope. Her love for being tied has lead her to tying, and she finds herself to be deeply influenced by Pilar, Discover Kinbaku, Felix Ruckert, Nicolas Yoroï, and Akira Naka on both sides of the ropes. Her over ten years of dance experience has given Saara a strong base of body awareness knowledge and experience that transfers over to her rope practice and teaching. To dance is to communicate with your body, and with that, there is no question that we are all dancing with our ropes.
As a kinkster, power play has always been an important topic relating to sexuality and expression of self for Saara. She believes that hierarchy is always present in our interactions with others and that it should be embraced and understood, rather than resisted. She strongly emphasizes that the top and the bottom create a scene together, each with equally important roles and shared responsibility. Having a strong sadomasochistic streak, Saara loves playing with physical pain as well as humiliation, shame, and fear from all perspectives. She believes that if one can truly sit with their darkest feelings and emotions then they can be understood and become familiar.... shining light upon them, so that they are no longer monsters unseen in the darkness. Learning to sit in these typically undesired feelings and emotions has been deeply healing for Saara, and with that she likes to encourage others to do the same, in a responsible, intentional, and safe way.
In general, Saara work centers around the exploration of suffering. Through her kink practice, she has come to understand that suffering comes from the comparison of what has been or could be to the present moment. And with that, one cannot suffer when they are truly present, in the now. This deep realization has been a main driving force for her, and has aided her in maintaining deep peace in even some of the most difficult of situations, both in kink and in her everyday life. With the knowledge Saara has gained from this practice of chosen suffering, she enjoys teaching about how to use suffering as a path to presence in every aspect of life.
Having a Ph.D. in mathematics, Saara’s academic teaching experience and training adds an intellectual flair to complement her performative approach to bodywork. Playfulness and humor make up a big chunk of Saara's personality and approach to life, giving her workshops a very exploitative and light atmosphere, even while approaching some of the heaviest of topics. She considers herself a student of Felix Ruckert and the Schwelle7 community. And with that, she hopes to carry on the spirit of space she was once part of, sharing the lessons she has learned and the perspectives she has gained during her time spent there.
