These are some photos of the shibari performances during the 16th of April at Death Disco organised by Athens Shibari. All photos by pleasure fields.
Petite Pretzel is a rope switch from New York. She teaches shibari at Anatomie Studio London, where she has worked since 2019. She has performed live in the UK for Edinburgh Rope Showcase, Drawn to Rope London, Rabbithole Club, and Fox&Badge; as well as abroad for Athens Shibari. Her commercial rigging includes credits for music videos, fashion photography and full-length film. She lives in Bethnal Green with her cat, who loves ropes just as much as she does.
Clara Sideways began exploring shibari while living in Tokyo in 2014. As an initially shy novice she visited Kitagawa Salon, Titty Twister, Bar Ubu and other SM venues. Originally captivated by the physical challenge of modelling for rope, she became fascinated by the kabuki influences of Kitagawa and Otonawa in theatrical shibari. Since returning to the UK, she has modelled for Artplay Magazine, The Slapstick Club, Unspeakable.E7, Drop Dead Gorgeous Drawing and Drawn to Rope. She continues to love challengingly tight rope and is a regular at Anatomie Studio London, when she is not spoiling her astonishingly huge cat, Nimbus. Clara and Pretzel became acquainted in 2017 and became closer through exploring shibari. Clara enjoys tying with Pretzel because “we laugh a lot, plus I respect enormously the amount of time and love she’s put into her practice.” Pretzel admires Clara’s patience, imagination, physical strength and ability to communicate. To sum up tying together in three words: respect, love and fun.
Eugene Rach discovered shibari out of a personal interest in all aspects of erotic Japanese bondage. He is interested in creating a deeper connection with his partner, so that the bonds acquire a special character. He is fascinated by the control that can be gained by the person who ties on the person who is tied up. He experiences the trust of his partner as an offer that he accepts with gratitude, but at the same time with a sense of responsibility as well. When doing ropes in private, he may use them as a tool to restrain, expose and inflict some pain to his partner, but he believes that shibari is a tool with many purposes that can be used in a variety of ways. For this reason, he will try to bring out his creative part in the show and maybe provoke some emotions, something that will be different and personal to each viewer. This aims to show everyone something more than just two people who are doing ropes, making us travel in a story, just as he is travelling whenever he is dedicated to tying with his partner.
Olga
met the world of Shibari from its aesthetical side via photography,
being enthusiastic about the site that is being created and projected
to the world.She approaches her Goth fetish with attention to detail
and it is clearly visible. The combination of her stile and ropes
gives her a sense of confidence, comfort and beauty.The values Olga
gets from the art of Shibari are the vibe being created, consent that
follows every move, the point is for everyone involved to have fun.
Another valuable asset for her is the relation between rigger and
model that is being established through communication by ropes.
Art
of Shibari for Olga is a tool that can be used playfully, by the
means of which a beautiful picture is being drawn, when at the same
time a dipper level of communication is established with the person
in front of her, communication that relays on trust, which can be
hard to get. Apart from the physical strain on the body and strength
requirements, that most of the times goes hand in hand with the art
of ropes, Olga enjoys the feeling of relaxation when the ropes fall
from her body.
