1. Russian Romanticism

    March 2, 2011
    by Eugenia Lapteva
    inspiration, music, performance

    Freud may have discovered the ‘royal road’ to the unconscious, but the Russians certainly found the route to our hearts. The first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, performed by the great Vadim Repin.

  2. Yoga & Shibari Workshop in Berlin THIS WEEKEND

    by Jeanne-Salome Rochat
    performance, SB people, sex

    This weekend, Dasniya Sommer and Frances d’Ath will be teaching in Berlin, Kreuzberg.

    Hours: 12 – 6 pm (one hour break)
    Costs: €120, students and low income €100
    Please bring tracksuits, food, and ropes if available. If you don’t have Shibari ropes, we will provide them.
    Location: Studio ‘Bühnen & Bilder’
    Ohlauerstr. 3-11
    10999 Berlin / U1 Görlitzer Bahnhof

    Information and registration: workshops@dasniyasommer.de

    www.dasniyasommer.de
    www.supernaut.info

    The workshop combines principles of Yoga with the tying technique Nawa Shibari. This Japanese term is usually translated with winding, knotting or to binding a rope. It refers to the ancient Japanese practice to tie up a person and was originally developed by Samurais in the 16th century. Today it is a technique to play physically, to perform or to experiment with the body and restriction. The styles in Shibari are noticeably versatile, yet one can say that there are basic figures to use ropes effectively.

    A crucial aspect of this is the combination of functionality with aesthetic rules. There are particular shapes and angles to tie rope, which create a certain look and a sense of solid limitation at the same time. This is comparable to a moment of embracement, which supports the body and enables the tied person to relax into the ropes. In this sense the material can be understood as an extension of arms. A firm hug.

    Then there is the Kinbaku side in Shibari which is more concerned with the biochemical or psychological effects. In Japanese tradition they speak of capturing a persons heart, to connect to the partners spirit or to touch them soulfully. This experience of fragile intensity can happen in both directions. The tying person and the person being tied can direct the scene from their individual angle. The notion of power shifts within the constellations and is often not as straightforward as it appears from the outside.

    To guide the mind in an enjoyable way and to bring it back on the ground is a matter of sensitive touch with ropes and care. To shape the figure from inside is an equally minimal and a seductive task. Beside the serious and almost orthodox way of Shibari technique there is an utterly playful and animal like experience in rope play.

    By starting the 6 hours with a 90 minutes Yoga session, the perception of the body gets refined before we engage into partner work. The Asanas ( Yoga postures) focus on the efficient use of muscles or on alignment of the torso, head and limbs. Rotation of the spine or balance exercises can be tried in variously challenging postures. The levels in both practices can be mixed, so that everybody works within the personal and anatomical realm.

    Text by the artists

  3. Another Saturday.

    February 26, 2011
    by Eugenia Lapteva
    cinema/video, music, opera, performance

    Early opera by Gluck, Iphigenie en Tauride, live from the Metropolitan Opera tonight 18.00 at Picture House Clapham (with Susan Graham and Plácido Domingo). In case you’re in the mood for music and mythology, like I.

  4. Kids these days…

    February 21, 2011
    by Eugenia Lapteva
    film, performance


    Trailer for the new short film “Las Palmas” by Swedish artist Johannes Nyholm. Starring Helmi.

  5. san francisco dementia

  6. Sonorous Saturday

    February 5, 2011
    by Eugenia Lapteva
    music, opera, performance, writing/litterature

    Gosh don’t the weeks fly by…For the past week and a half I’ve been meaning to mention my enchanting encounter with the late 19th century French composer Jules Massenet’s beautiful and splendidly romantic Werther at the Vienna Opera House. The opera is based on Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther – a well-known Sturm und Drang novel from 1774 which tells the story of a young middle-class man, and his impossible love for the uncorrupted country dweller Charlotte.

    Werther’s aria ‘Pourquoi me réveiller’, sung by the brilliant tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who’s beguiling voice never fails to expose us to the beautiful mystery of music…

  7. Futurism Reborn.

    January 31, 2011
    by Eugenia Lapteva
    cinema/video, music, performance


    Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjarne Nilsson’s
    (quintessentially Scandinavian) short film from 2001.
    Looking forward to seeing their new feature film ‘Sound of Noise’.
    Music with a twist.