Bound: Japanese rope bondage at the Flying Dutchman/January 2013

I am as I am and so will I be
But how that I am none knoweth truly.
Be it evil be it well, be I bond be I free
I am as I am and so will I be.
- Sir Thomas Wyatt

I walk up to the bar and ask for a mug of boiling water for my Lemsip. The evening passes in an hallucinatory blur.

Performers:
Nina Russ and MaYa Homerton
Esinem and Gorgone
Kirigami and Tenshiko Dorei
Aurel Dark and Sirta Lys

More pictures if you scroll down.

Nicolas Yoroï's Stage de Kinbaku in Paris

Who makes Japanese rope bondage look romantic and, well, chic? The French, of course, so stepping lightly through snow and racial stereotypes I am in Montreuil for Nicolas Yoroï's dojo, the Kinbaku class which he conducts with his pupil and assistant Aurel Dark.

Qui est-ce qui rend le bondage Japonais romantique et, donc, chic? Les français, bien sûr, ainsi, passant légèrement au travers de la neige et des stéréotypes raciaux, me voici à Montreuil pour le dojo de Nicolas Yoroï qu’il mène avec son élève et assistant Aurel Dark.

The rope around the neck, he points out, should not be tight. And when you straighten the model's arm to move him or her down to the floor, you don't press the arm in an ugly movement: you kneel, your back straight, retaining elegance and control.

La corde autour du cou, dit-il, ne doit pas être serrée. Et lorsqu'on raidit le bras du modèle pour le/la mettre à terre, on ne s'appuie pas sur le bras dans un vilain mouvement : on descend sur ses genoux, le dos bien droit, en gardant élégance et contrôle.

Nicolas pads gracefully around the studio. This is a calm, disciplined class, not a performance, so it doesn't have the dynamism of theatre. But there is a sense of purpose, with subtle moments of private tenderness between the couples.

Nicolas fait gracieusement, et à pas feutrés, le tour du studio. C’est une classe calme et disciplinée, qui n'est pas dans la performance, ainsi il n’y a pas une dynamique de théâtre. Mais il y a de l'application, avec des moments subtils de tendresse privée entre les couples.

I go back to my cheap hotel by the crossroads, watch snowfall and traffic violations, and feel anonymous in the cosmos. I wake up next morning with la grippe and drag my cold bones home.

Je reviens à mon hôtel première classe qui donne sur le carrefour, regarde la neige tomber, les chauffards, et je me sens anonyme dans ce cosmos. Je me réveille le lendemain avec la grippe et je ramène ma carcasse frigorifiée à la maison.

I call this blog boulevardisme because it is the first word I can think of which contains the letters BDSM.

Ce blog s'appelle Boulevardisme parce que c’est le premier mot qui me vienne contenant les lettres BDSM

Rodin: Les Bourgeois de Calais

Aurel (twice)

 

 

Drawing Gorgone at a photoshoot of Japanese rope bondage

I'm in Jay Graham's photographic studio, a converted church in Camden. Nina Russ and Bruce Esinem are tying.

Gorgone is the strong, supple model. She can curve her spine like a U-bend. She is so slender that she appears to have nowhere to store her internal organs. Naked, she is invulnerable, and turns up the blaze in front of the camera. Her skin is an even gold.

Down on the floor, my core tools include bamboo brush-pens, bedraggled quills and a white gel pen. A grown-up Rotring drawing pen is auditioning to join the team. Felt-tips are my dirty little secret.

I protect the floorboards with the Financial Times which I like for its soft colour and absorbency. I draw on cream cartridge, Canson Mi-Teintes and a Galaxy wrapper.

More pictures if you scroll down.

...suspended in gauze...

...gauze...





In a suspended box





...gauze...

In a suspended box

...gauze...