A Weekend with Fuoco & Wicked Wren

Tickets become available to studio members on May 15, our mailing list on May 16, and the general public on May 17.

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Friday, June 7th: Hojo Logic (PLUS)

This class is split into two parts - all tickets include access to both halves, however only tickets for Hojo Logic PLUS include the opportunity to suspend in the second half of class.

Part One: Hojo Logic - $100 per tying pair

The hojo cuff is an important tool in any riggers tool box. It's infinitely useful, present everywhere from patternless floorwork to technically demanding suspension sequences, and requires excellent rope handling skills. The possibilities for its application are nearly endless, which means that both newer and more experienced riggers can look forward to building a skill that will offer them hours of practice, challenge them creatively, and improve their rope across the board. This course will start from the basics of what a hojo cuff is, will use hojo cuffs to recreate familiar bondage forms, and will end with free-form applications of hojo cuffs. 

Pre-requisites: Some foundational rope experience. Those tying should be comfortable with single column ties. 

Part Two: Hojo Logic PLUS - $125 per tying pair

We’ll spend the second half of class adding extra tension to our hojo constructions! 

This section builds on what was covered in the earlier session, offering participants the tools to think critically about their hojo messes and masterpieces. With a solid understanding of what it means to build a functional friction and reinforced stem, both messes and masterpieces can become structurally sound harnesses. The class will culminate with an exploration of how to safely add suspension lines to these free-form hojo cuff constructions, greatly enhancing the potential for playing with this style of tying. 

Prerequisites: Riggers must have previously studied suspension techniques (partial or full) and bottoms should have knowledge of the risks associated with suspension, signs of nerve compression, and enough suspension experience to feel comfortable communicating with their rigger while tied.

Participants must attend part one of this class. 

Saturday & Sunday: Box Tie Intensive - $300 per tying pair

This two-day workshop focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of box ties to empower both bottoms and riggers to adjust for individual anatomy and preferences, rather than strictly adhering to patterns from memory.

Day One: Beginning/Two Ropes
A theoretical box tie class on the "two rope" box tie form that starts from a place of each bottom's anatomical box tie and builds out accordingly. This class doesn't teach any single pattern, but rather aims to help riggers and bottoms make decisions about each box tie component, from how to set the shoulders to how to lock kanukis. 

Day Two: Finishing/Third Rope

A theoretical box tie class on the "3rd rope" box tie form, relevant to both stemmed and stemless box ties. Students will leave this class with the skills to improvise finishing rope forms within a simple set of guidelines. 

Those experienced in suspension will have time to test load their bespoke box ties at the end of class. Please note: suspension technique will not be taught in this class.  

Pre-requisites: This class is best suited to tying pairs who have some familiarity with a box tie form already, as the conversation will be sometimes theoretical and step-through instruction won't be offered. 

Instructor Biographies:

fuoco (she/her) began her rope journey as a bottom in Phoenix in 2012 and shortly thereafter moved to London, where much of her early rope learning happened. Upon moving back to the US, she began presenting at cons and intensives around the country sharing her love of rope. As an educator, she's decidedly non-dogmatic in her approach to teaching. Her classes aim to help bottoms to better understand their bodies in movement, and to offer riggers the knowledge to adapt their tying to the unique needs of their partners.

When she’s not doing rope, fuoco is a professional acrobat. Her dedicated study of the mechanics of the body make her especially interested in developing more comprehensive education for bottoms informed by these practices. She's also a leftist who believes that kink is inherently political. She strives to bring her politics, her values, and an accountability for those values into her teaching spaces. She lives in Northampton, MA on Pocumtuck land.

Wren (she/her) is an artist, photographer, content creator, and host of the Shibari Study podcast.

Dates & Classes TBA

Kirigami and Tenshiko have been teaching workshops and giving performances all over Europe since 2013.

They teach with passion and competence from complete beginners to masterclasses.

Dates & Classes TBA

Tamandua is a full time rope artist and kinbaku instructor based in Berlin.

‘I have an empathetically sadistic streak and a deep fetishistic love for the aesthetic dimension of kinbaku.
Often tying in a way that can be challenging both for the one tying and the one in the ropes, my shibari usually demands a lot of technical clarity when in the role of a teacher. At the same time, the student’s individuality is a priority when it comes to learning methods and intention.

I view kinbaku as a practice of continuous exploration – where new doors open as your go deeper and further with a partner, over the course of a session, or over the course of a long partnership. Sometimes though, the magic that defines kinbaku can be just that one alluring image that sticks with you, a moment suspended in time.

For me, the essence of kinbaku lies in the meeting between the aesthetic expression and the emotional and sensual intention of the practice. And the more ones tying develop, the more seamlessly the parts can intermingle.’