November 22nd, 2022
The course Beginner with Previous Experience is directed at learning the basics of Shibari/Kinbaku technique. We start systematically with efficient handling of body, rope, and safety principles (knots, wrapping and friction). The material contains a wide range of harnesses for floor work. Understanding restriction from the models perspective, and the complex skill set of the rigger, to create erotic phantasies or a meditative tie.
September 13th, 2022
The course Beginner with Previous Experience is directed at learning the basics of Shibari/Kinbaku technique. We start systematically with efficient handling of body, rope, and safety principles (knots, wrapping and friction). The material contains a wide range of harnesses for floor work. Understanding restriction from the models perspective, and the complex skill set of the rigger, to create erotic phantasies or a meditative tie.
For more information and workshops please scroll up.
21. Juni 2022 (Hamburg)
Während ihrer Fleetstreet Residenz bietet Dasniya Sommer einen offenen Shibari Bondage Workshop für interessierte Einsteiger* innen an. In dem dreistündigen Kurs werden technische Grundlagen vorgestellt und miteinander ausprobiert. Im Fokus stehen erste Erfahrung mit den Seilen, ein effizientes body-handling, Sicherheitsprinzipien wie Reibung und Seilspannung und intuitive Kommunikation.
Darauf aufbauend werden gemeinsam klassische Ober- und Unterkörper-Harnesse erstellt. Gemeinsam reflektiert die Gruppe die emotionale Ebene des Shibari, lernt Rollenspielvarianten (von dominant bis submissiv) kennen und bespricht die Rolle der inneren Haltung innerhalb eines zu schaffenden emotionalen Schutzraums.
Seit über zehn Jahren praktiziert und unterrichtet Dasniya Sommer Shibari/Bondage Workshops u.a. beim ImPulsTanz Festival Wien, im Queer Art Studio Berlin oder an der Kunsthochschule Braunschweig. Technisch ist sie sowohl mit dem fesselnden als auch dem Part des gefesselt Werdens vertraut und vermittelt beide Perspektiven aus ihrer langjährigen Erfahrung sowohl als sogenannte Rigger*in und als Bondage Model.
Datum: Dienstag 21. Juni 2022
Zeit: 18-20 Uhr
Gebühr: 20€ p.P.
Fragen und Anmeldung unter: workshops(at)dasniyasommer.de
Continuing to work on a series of branchwork sculptures.
Movement exploration for my instagram podcast as part of the program Dis-Tanzen-Solo. Many thanks to Dachverband Tanz Deutschland e.V. for the support.
Live session: Monday April, 26 at 4pm
www.instagram.com/dasniya_sommer/
Talking Toes‘ adds hip action to the previous shoulder exploration ⬇️ because foot habits usually start at the architecture of the pelvis and from there root downward. Activating individual muscles groups in the pelvic region takes a moment since it seems like one massive bone structure, sheltering and protecting our guts from external impact.
Staying on the level of movement research, I am again using PNF -proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation – a taktile sense ⬇️ to work out axes and patterns of the pelvic joint, and how it’s micro movement travel up the spine if wanted.
At first its not about moving the leg but finding the individual impulse of the right and left pelvic half. Later these impulses are extended into the periphery and shaped to classical forms but originating at the very core.
I am reading into stereometry in dance, or dynamic spatial geometry. Starting.
An arabesque cut in half brakes the idea of the infinite line, as well as the wrist rope. If there is the full circumference of movement, there also is the folded in or the restricted spacial imprint. With smaller reach, with the lower leg being visually deleted. But therefor more differentiation and attention towards surrounding and often neglected parts and their opportunities to move. Now, by immobilising the lower leg, this becomes obvious. The surrounding parts, like toe or sacrum articulation need to take over. Get creative. For a moment it’s a little brain fuck. Sensory unfamiliar. Staminawise harder, but I am after these alternative sources of movement. For now. Twitches in uncoordinated corners of the little toe, and some time later adding goofy fun stuff.
My (not so virgin) lower back also appreciates this routine. Intrinsic fibres between the vertebrae’s are waking up with deeper blood circulation, and if you do it for a while some blood will rush pleasantly across the pelvic floor.
„Gefördert durch die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Programm NEUSTART KULTUR, [Hilfsprogramm DIS-TANZEN/ tanz:digital/ DIS-TANZ-START] des Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.“
Tomorrow Friday on Instagram at Dasniya_Sommer – February 26, 4pm
Rope Barre‘ starts with a shoulder blade warm up. With ‚Musculus Subscapularis‘, one of the deep shoulder and breast muscles. Running between the front part of the blade to the upper arm where it inserts on the very inside. When the arm is turned in or pushed against the torso, like when it is freezing or the soul is tensing up, it‘s this M. Subscapularis which get’s active.
Personally both of mine have been injured for a few years. With the arm positions in ballet, with pulling up weights in bondage, or with the arms cross tied behind the back it’s the tendons of this muscle which can get inflamed. (Like to say here that this is not necessarily the ‚fault‘ of the practices, but rather how it’s done and taught.) Nevertheless both ballet and bondage are radical in terms of anatomical intensity (and perhaps from other perspectives). Doing both extensively I see it as the collateral damage of professional ‚use‘ of my body. Nevertheless the price is high. DisTanzenSolo currently supports me to take care of many old dance injuries and at the same time develop a gentle choreographic training routine without production pressure.
This month focus is on developing a somatic strength training for the scapula and it‘s surrounding structures, a not so tiny part of the arm. And because it‘s invisible for our forward looking species I am rediscovering it’s minor movement by sensing it’s location to start with. Inspired by the manual therapeutic practice ‚PNF‘, which I learned about in my physio therapie training more than 15 years ago. I had forgotten about it, but my shoulder misery led me to integrate it in my current daily training and movement research. ‚PNF‘ means proprioceptive-neuro-fascilitation. Kind of an anatomical self-sensing skill, which most people on the planet use navigating through space. If functioning, this sense tells the mover in which position their joints are. So that also in the dark we know our physical positioning in time and space. That’s the neuro-wiring between the joint capsule- and skin tension, and the brainy part – that‘s how I roughly remember. A pretty awesome and complex sense, which is used mostly without thinking.
For the shoulder blade warm up it‘s necessary to relay on this tactile sense. It’s especially trained in dance and other high coordination sports. But I find the scapula gets often neglected (especially in more conventional classical training), cause it‘s not an obvious articulation like hip or shoulder, and from the old days it‘s all about ‚Isolation‘.
After warming the blade up the routine of a ballet barre follows. The barre is almost an institution by itself I find. A ritual, a codified and useful object, and therefor it’s replaced by ropes. An experimental ‚barre‘ with impromptus steps. Requiring the shoulder girdle to stabilise the arms. For the moment there are no fixed sequences, the guts pour out steps by heart.
The wrist rope make sensible (fühlbar) how the upper limb connects to the blade in the back. From there letting your creative part of the brain take over. Playing with partial restriction. Going back to floor level. Don‘t pull strongly, rather use ropes holding your wrists to push (thrust) down and move rather slow than fast.
There are lot‘s of bridges between, ballet inspired impulses and bondage somatics. Let‘s not hunt shapes! But rather going through them and staying on a sensing level while breathing. And than, once in a while letting go of the concentration part and the muscle support, so that weight is actually falling into ropes or towards the floor. Integrating inner imagery and emo moments can be fun. If you hover over them for a while they might transform, intensify or go away. Think it‘s all valid on an experience level (without forceful phantasies for this round.)
Undoing the ropes can be a moment by itself. Same here, taking the inner drive into the action. Gently, exhausted or wild are colours of mind sets which inform the action/movement quality.
This is my current ‚freeing the shoulder blade and connecting back to my upper limb spirits!‘ tutorial.
Tomorrow Friday on Instagram at Dasniya_Sommer – February 26, 4pm
Trailer: Rope Barre – DisTanzenSolo
„Gefördert durch die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Programm NEUSTART KULTUR, [Hilfsprogramm DIS-TANZEN/ tanz:digital/ DIS-TANZ-START] des Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.“
Hi Shibari people and friends,
there are still no group classes taking place in January. If you like to organize a private tuition please drop me an email.
Hoping to touch base again soon and warm vibes and wishes for 2021!
In ropes: Tiana Hemlock-Yensen💚
A project by Liz Rosenfeld and Rodrigo Garcia Alves. I was very happy and touched working with them for a few days.
There will be a livestream:
Thursday, December 17th, 20h
Sophiensaele Link: https://sophiensaele.com/en/stueck/rodrigo-garcia-alves-liz-rosenfeld-residency-showing-new-techniques-i
Im Rahmen des Sophiensæle-Residenzprogramms New Techniques laden wir zu einem ersten Online-Showing ein: Am 17. Dezember werden Rodrigo Garcia Alves und Liz Rosenfeld Einblick in ihre fortlaufende künstlerische Forschung zum Thema queeres Hospiz in Form von choreografischen Video-Partituren und einem Gespräch mit dem Tanzdramaturgen Mateusz Szymanówka geben.
Wie werden wir als nicht blutsverwandte Familie füreinander sorgen? Was brauchen wir als queere Menschen, um sicherzustellen, dass wir in der Lage sind, am Lebensende für die Pflege zu sorgen, die wir uns vorstellen? Wie kann künstlerische Forschung zu einer lebenslangen Aufgabe werden, die in verschiedenen Formen und Spielarten erforscht wird? Während ihrer Residenz in den Sophiensælen haben Rodrigo Alves Garcia und Liz Rosenfeld Persönlichkeiten getroffen, die sowohl ganz pragmatisch als auch kreativ mit dem Tod arbeiten: darunter ein Palliativmediziner, eine Sterbebegleiterin, ein Chorleiter, eine Bondage-Expertin und ein Tätowierungsheiler. Gemeinsam haben sie ihr Wissen rund um das Sterben und die queere Pflege vertieft. Dabei entstanden choreografische Partituren, Video- und Textarbeiten, die sich mit Fragen der Intimität auseinandersetzen und untersuchen, wie queere Familien politisch, künstlerisch, räumlich und emotional weiterhin Raum füreinander halten können, während sie sich auf ihr Hospiz vorbereiten. Während ihrer Residenz haben sie mit Colin Self, Maja Zimmermann, Fercha Pombo, Andre Neely, Imogen Heath, Christian Küllmei und Dasniya Sommer gearbeitet.
In June we were invited to show The Männy at Autoren(theater)tage. Because of the situation it’s now postponed to autumn. Fingers crossed that it can come to Berlin! It will be a crazy job to set up the installtion in a new space, despite our meticulous documentation of every single rope critter.
New years vacation, knitting and knotting this and them, developing part of the stage design for ‘The Männy’. On the left suspended a cocoon which gives birth to an adorable rope creature in the piece. The happy side of the cocoon is made of more organic material, flowers, willow cotton, beeswax and compostable left overs. The back is covered in bitumen, an oily and somewhat burned, demolished landscape. ➿