Movement, Sound, and Rope
a 1-day workshop with Saara Rei
“Each celestial body, in fact each and every atom, produces a particular sound on account of its movement, its rhythm or vibration. All these sounds and vibrations form a universal harmony in which each element, while having it’s own function and character, contributes to the whole.”
- Pythagoras (569-475 BC)
Our movement and emotional state can be deeply affected by sound. I am sure many have experienced music that makes them feel, dance, and act in certain ways depending on the rhythm, tempo, lyrics, tone, and pitch.
As well, music can affect how we interact with each other. How we move, feel, and react to each other when there are different sounds around. Not just from music, but from our own bodies as well. Laughter, humming, screaming, sighing, breathing, and any kind of vocalization made can affect the atmosphere, movements, and reactions from all those present.
If we think of Japanese-inspired rope bondage as we way to interact and move with another person, a way of dancing with them, then we can also look at how sound can affect our way of tying and being tied. How does music affect a session? How does it affect our movements and emotional state? And how do the sounds we make affect the reactions of the person we are tying with? In this workshop, we will use improvisational techniques along these questions as a guide for exploring the different possible dynamics that can be explored between two people tying together.
As a rigger, you will figure out how to take the tools you already know from your shibari practice and apply them in an extemporaneous manner. As well we will practice rope and body handling so that we can train our muscle memory in order to act more freely during a rope session. As a bottom, you will explore different levels of physical and mental activity during a rope session as a way of learning to embrace your genuine reactions in a session and how you can act on them. As a pair, you will explore different dynamics between you via power, tempo, and feeling, and see what dynamics feel best for you and how you can work towards finding what feels right in the moment.
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is appropriate for the beginner as well as the experienced, and both the bunny as well as the rigger will have a part to play in each exercise (in other words, bunnies will have something to learn and practice too). The intention of this workshop is to bring a greater awareness to how we interact with each other's bodies while tying and to begin building a toolbox for communicating better with our bodies (to complement our words).
If you are interested in booking this workshop in a part of the world near you, then please send an email.