xplore Berlin 2005

The aftermaths of the press campaign against xplore during summer 2004 finally brought the Berlin senate to the decision to completely cut public funding for xplore. Our artistic and innovative intention was not doubted, nevertheless financial aid was taken away from us „due to the lack of political and public acceptance“.

After some unpleasant reflection we nevertheless decided to risk it again. We have to save money by inviting less presenters and „stars“ from abroad and unfortunately by raising the entrance fee. We will introduce some unknown faces with strong approaches. This way we will be able to maintain the spirit and the quality of the event and for the financial inconvenience we count on the comprehension of our old and new guests.

Besides the known excellent technical workshops the program of xplore will especially focus on emotion and expression, giving more room to performance and transgression.

We try to integrate some propositions of our guests from last year: we keep some of the most popular workshops in the program, some workshops will be done twice, half of the workshops will be presented in English. As last year there will be extra presentations, performances and surprises.

Welcome to our playground!

Caprice & Felix

-> website xplore 2005

 

 

 

Program 2005 see below…

 

Sensuality & Spirituality
Touching Men I
Thomas Luhmann
Touching Men II
Thomas Luhmann
Erotic Massage for Women I & II
Roza A. Bliss
The Vulva or the Female Sex
Roza A. Bliss
The Penis or the Male Sex
Thomas Luhmann
Skin I & II
Felix Ruckert
Partner Yoga
Ilka Stoedtner
Cathartic Massage
Ilka Stoedtner
Bioenergetic Exercises
Ilka Stoedtner
Bisexual Adventures
Felix Ruckert
Full Body Orgasm I & II
Frédéric Gies
 
Pain & Pleasure
Wordplay
B. Sanguinaria
Power Situations
Felix Ruckert
Spanking
Paula L. Rosengarthen
Hot Wax
Hagen
Sensory Deprivation
Hagen
Learning the Ropes
Hagen
Japanese Bondage (Basics)
Zamil & maliZ
Japanese Bondage Dressing up with Rope
Zamil & maliZ
Tickling & Bastonade
delta® & C.D.
Flagellation 101
delta® & C.D.
Flagellation (Advanced)
delta® & C.D.
Play Piercing
Paula L. Rosengarthen
Live out your sexual fantasies – Exhibitionismus
T.E.
Live out your sexual fantasies – Gangbang
T.E.
Live out your sexual fantasies – Gender-Play
T.E.
Thoughts & Emotions
Wickedness and Grace
Miras L. Verde
About Power
Miras L. Verde
Conflict makes Sense
Miras L. Verde
Monogamy – Polygamy or 101 Affairs and no Partner
Paula L. Rosengarthen
Body Cult & Fetishism
Paula L. Rosengarthen
Free Love – Free Sexuality
Theo Altenberg
Performance & Action
Feet Washing Ceremony
delta®
Japanese Bondage – Freestyle
Zamil & maliZ
Self-Expression I & II
Theo Altenberg
BDSM & Performance
Felix Ruckert
xplore performance lab Fuck for Forest
Tommy & Leona
Feedback Discussion
Miras L. Verde

Sensuality & Spirituality

Touching Men I
Thomas Luhmann
Köln
Touch can be soft and hard, fluid and firm, erotic, intimate, approaching and fulfilling. Me and my assistant Kai Ehrhardt will give a little introduction to erotic (not sexual) massage. We will guide you to give a massage and accompany you when you receive touch. workshop for men only !!

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Biography Thomas Luhmann

Touching Men II
Thomas Luhmann
Köln
We continue on the stream of touch. This time the receiving men communicate where and how they wish to be touched and we try to give them a sensually beautiful and unique massage session. workshop for men and women – but only men will be massaged!

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Biography Thomas Luhmann

Erotic Massage for Women
Roza A. Bliss
Freiburg
Workshop I. To touch, understand, embrace and streak the body with joy, heart and sensitivity. Perfumes, oils, tissues, fur, hair, lips, nails, skin and lots of fantasy stimulate your senses and desire. Hands perform music, dance with you like a musical instrument. We play with a range of touch qualities that trigger sensual pleasure and softly invite your body to melt.. Women only!
please bring a blanket.

Workshop II. For men and women, but only women get massaged

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Biography Roza A. Bliss

The Vulva or the Female Sex
Roza A. Bliss
Freiburg
If your vulva could speak what would she say ? If she could ask for something, what would be her desire? We give our vulva a voice, we listen to her wishes and we will learn the Yoni Massage as a possibility to rediscover her, to relax her thin and multi-layered tissue through caring touch and to animate it to more vitality, sensitivity and lust. Women only

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Biography Roza A. Bliss

The Penis or the Male Sex
Thomas Luhmann
Köln
He is your universal lust and life provider. Every man should be proud of him, the little friend. In your education he was mostly completely ignored, or loaded with taboo. As a young man maybe other guys tried to grab him, or they compared his length with their own rods. Often the root of a complex was then planted. In the workshop we will talk about our own perception of our dicks and about the perception of others. During a little ritual we will show, touch and sniff them in a safe and comfortable atmosphere. Whatever kind of complex you might have concerning your cock, we will do the first steps towards healing.You will look at your willy differently afterwards!
workshop for men only !

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Biography Thomas Luhmann

Skin I & II
Felix Ruckert
Berlin
The skin is our biggest sense organ. Quicker and in a more direct way than eyes, nose or ears it links us to our environment. Despite its being one big unity the skin is made of many differently-thick surfaces. It gives us reliable information about changes in pressure, pull, friction and temperature.

The workshop combines both the active use of the skin as perception instrument and techniques for its manipulation and stimulation. It illustrate its possibilities as means of communication with the environment and the people. A special focus is put on the perception of the psychological and emotional effects of the different techniques.

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Biography Felix Ruckert

Bisexual Adventures
Felix Ruckert
Berlin
Heterosexual but fascinated by homosexuality ?
Lesbian or gay, but sometimes lusting for the other sex?
A workshop for potential polymorph perverts looking for new experiences. in a relaxed playful athmosphere we will test our boundaries with simple love techniques such as sensing, touching, caressing and kissing.
We play with our sexual identities.
A look on the other side of the fence…

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Biography Felix Ruckert

Full Body Orgasm
Frédéric Gies
Berlin
I propose with this workshop a particular way to reach what is registered as “energy orgasm”. We will start , through movement, to get in touch with our skin, our fluid system (blood, cellular fluid, cerebral spinal fluid…) and our endocrine glands, inviting this way our sexual energy to flow in our body. Playing with movement and deep breath, we will find the way to reach an energy orgasm, or what I would willingly call a “FULL BODY ORGASM”. This way to reach this kind of orgasm is an amazing tool that we can use whatever the sexual practice we’re involved in, and that helps us to enjoy our pleasure in a more complete and embodied way.

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Biography Frédéric Gies

Partner Yoga
Ilka Stoedtner
Berlin
Partner Yoga stimulates your energy and trains your body through touch and joy. It has a beneficial effect on the internal organs and influences breath, menstruation and orgasmic functioning. Its six basic positions are based on the knowledge of Chinese Medicine and are part of the basic exercises of Advaita-Tantra

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Biography Ilka Stoedtner

Cathartic Massage
Ilka Stoedtner
Berlin
A very special massage: It helps to break up physical blockages. It is certainly not the most pleasant kind of massage, but its effects will remain unforgettable. A great introduction to Tantra for S/M players!

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Biography Ilka Stoedtner

Bioenergetic Excercises
Ilka Stoedtner
Berlin
Bow and Little Fire Column
The Bow and The Fire Column are bioenergetic exercises. They help to sharpen the will and to increase the ability to devotion. They release blockages and free the orgasmic reflex, which travels through the whole body into the feet. In a metaphoric sense the exercises stand for the stepping out of the darkness of unconsciousness. The energy rises and transforms into spiritual power.

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Biography Ilka Stoedtner

Pain & Pleasure

Wordplay
B. Sanguinaria
Berlin
Language and voice are effective requisites in SM. A deliberate choice of words increases the suspense, the perfect tone creates especially intense scenarios and roles. In this workshop a number of possibilities are introduced – and immediately practiced:

* “Whatever pleases you, Madam!” ­ eloquency gets you a head start
* “What is the magic word?” ­ playing with clichés
* Putting your foot down ­ be present with a strong voice
* Ready-wit­ be as sharp as a blade
* Talk dirty to me­ and how do I dare to open my mouth?

As always, experience levels and areas of interest determine the focus topics of this workshop.
Fun is guaranteed.

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Biography B. Sanguinaria

Power Situations
Felix Ruckert
Berlin
This workshop is about the emotional effects of spatial relations. It deals with such subjects as closeness and distance, the individual and the group, spatial hierachies, control and surrender, intimacy and reserve. Our position in space, our body language, our attitude and focus are creative tools in the non-verbal communication with others. Simple physical exercises draw the attention to the dynamics created by spatial relations and in contact with others. They also help to perceive the emotions that are inevitably triggered in this process.

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Biography Felix Ruckert

Spanking – Samatala – Smack it!
Paula L. Rosengarthen
Berlin
Executed with a firm hand, Spanking is a highlight for many lovers – a real erotic obsession and not just a disciplinary device in role play. This workshop provides hands-on experience to point out the different possibilities and alternatives. It will also show which techniques and objects might be used as an extension of your hand…

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Biography Paula L. Rosengarthen

Hot Wax
Hagen
Berlin
A special candle light dinner for the skin. For the fans of Hot Wax it causes an exremely erotic sensation, both because of the intermingling of heat with other kind of stimuli and because of the unpredictability of exactly where the drops will fall.
In this workshop we will try out the whole variety of how different candles can “burn”. From relaxing – yes, that is possible! – to truly hot, there are lots of possibilities. And of course important safety tips:
not all candles are the same….

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Biography Hagen

Sensory Deprivation
Hagen
Berlin
Here you will learn all about the infinite possibilities of sensory deprivation, from the simple covering of the eyes to the complete mummification. Out of the overabundance of stimuli in daily life, the recipient is projected into a silent cosmos, where he alone exists and where all his attention is directed toward inside. As the borders between the real and the imagined become blurred and the feeling for time and the material world becomes lost, longer sessions can cause changes in awareness. Therefore it is important to agree on a certain length of time beforehand.

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Biography Hagen

Learning the Ropes
Hagen
Berlin
The basics of erotic bondage.
The joy of bondage consists of the fact that the person who is tied up can completely let go, fall into his/her feelings and just accept what the partner is doing. She/he no longer has to think about her/his own performance as a lover of feel guilty about being passive. The person who is actively binding feels lust because of the total power over the partner. The increase of power frees him/her of inhibitions just as powerlessness liverates the person who is bound. To play with bondage absolute trust is a must:
responsibility on one side and the ability to abandon on the other.

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Biography Hagen

Japanese Bondage (Basics)
Zamil & maliZ
Berlin
Simple arm and/or leg bondage. Learn and try it out yourself! What kind of knots do I have to use ? How does it feel to be restricted, helpless, controlled ? How does it feel to restrain someone? To tie someone up ? What are the safety aspects to consider?

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Biography Zamil & maliZ

Japanese Bondage – Dressing up with Rope
Zamil & maliZ
Berlin
The decorative possibilities of Bondage are demonstrated and explained. Zamil und maliZ will teach a classic decoratiion bondage and show how to create your own variations with a willing partner and a few lenghts of rope.

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Biography Zamil & maliZ

Tickling & Bastonade
delta® & C.D.
Berlin
Our feet are both robust and extremely sensitive.
The torturers in former times used this knowledge to give convicts draconian punishment with a cane on the sole. This punishment was extraordinarily painful, but it didn´t leave any traces.
Even today, the classic “Bastonade” is often used to bring pain through the sole of the foot to the whole body. Foot torture is however much more than the simple use of a cane. Torture starts for everyone at a different point. For some of us, tickling may be much more torture than anything else.
This Workshop will provide many nasty ideas for different methods of torturing.

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Biography  delta® & C.D.

Flagellation 101
delta® & C.D.
Berlin
Through a variety of practical excercises we will give you a feeling for the use of different whips. Only the one who knows what it feels like to be whipped, is able to use a whip responsibly.
Where can I hit with diffent whips? How strong can I whip without leaving traces? Or in order to leave traces!

We want to give answers to common questions, like:
– Where to get a whip?
– How to transport the whip without having to tell the neighbours ” I have a pony”>
– How to make your own whip?
Hands on Workshop

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Biography  delta® & C.D.

Flagellation for the Experienced
delta® & C.D.
This workshop is explicitly for experienced sadists or/and masochists, who want to carry out a session in a safe but public environment. What kind of emotions are triggered by physical pain? What are my limits? How do I perceive my Hitting- or Receiving- Persona? What kind of images and thoughts are coming up?
We will organize several 30- minute-sessions to approach these and other questions regarding our practical experiences. There will be time for discussion and exchange afterwards.
As we aim for a very intense atmosphere, the number of participants wil be limited.

Please bring a partner!

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Biography  delta® & C.D.

Play Piercing
Paula L. Rosengarthen
At first the idea of needles through the skin produces fear and disgust in most people. In a play piercing, sterile needles – often hypodermic needles – are usually inserted into the top layers of skin. These wounds heal without leaving permanent marks. In contrary to what most people believe Play Piercing does not hurt very much after the first short moment of insertion. The interest in Play Piercing lies more in the symbolic connotation that a penetration of the skin implies. All penetration of skin entails the potential risk of infection or trauma and requires extreme caution. In this workshop Paula will show how you can introduce needles sensually and playfully into your love life and will give practical tips for use, safety and hygiene.

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Biography Paula L. Rosengarthen

Live out your sexual fantasies:
Exhibitionism/Voyeurism, Crossdressing/Gender-Play, Gangbang/All against One
T.E.
To make sex work well, a scenario very different from the one actually experienced might run in the minds of the partners. Because of shame or fear a lot of fantasies remain repressed and the actual sex life becomes shallow. Within the safe framework of this workshop the participants have the opportunity to tell which ideas really turn them on and to hear and experience the fantasies of others. With the agreement of the participants and in the framework of the legal possiblities, fantasies can be acted out. The protagonists will have the chance to experience to what extent they really wish to live those fantasies. (No obligation to consumate! ) Very often the acting out of a fantasy is less frightening than imagined. Maybe some participants might discover that keeping fantasies a secret only helps them to avoid expressing what they really want in their current sex life. Allowing oneself to follow an utopic idea is a step on the path to more authenticity and may liberate one from feelings of guilt. Playful handling of sexual fantasies releases us from the effort of repressing them and makes us accept ourselves with those fantasies. This will prevent these particular practices from becoming obsessions and controlling us, from performing them compulsively, and from damaging ourselves or others. Accepting and Noticing-what-is are the way to the Self.

This workshop is not an introduction to swinger clubs or gangbang parties. It is about putting sexual fantasies into perspective by experiencing and observing them. Everyone who wishes can bring in and act out his or her specific fantasy. To people in relationships it offers an opportunity to try things they can not do or do not dare to do as a couple. Participants might play roles in the scenarios of others as long as these scenes stay within their limits or even match their own fantasies.
Due to the limited time of the course not all ideas will be put into practice, but one might be surprised by the fact that many fantasies are very similiar.

For each workshop day Dorothea will propose a main topic:
Exhibitionism/Voyeurism
Cross Dressing / Gender-Play
Gangbang / All against One

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Biography T.E.

Thoughts & Emotions

Wickedness and Grace
Miras L. Verde
Berlin
Be what (-ever) you want.
In S/M we play with images and stereotypes. We look for our polar opposite, the force that resists our own. This is hot, but sometimes something gets lost: we tend to hide those parts of ourselves that appear to contradict the chosen role. This workshop is dedicated to the capacities and characteristics that attract us to our play/life partners, those which we would like to have (more of) ourselves.
My question is: What fascinates you? What touches you? What are you looking for in your counterpart? What are your fears and desires? What do you discover when you uncover?
This will be a journey backstage, behind the clichés and role models of male/female, sadistic/masochistic, dominant/submissive..What is in there in the dark? I would like to seduce you to dig a bit deeper, to discover new facets of yourself, to appropriate and integrate them with pleasure.

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Biography Miras L. Verde

About Power
Miras L. Verde
Berlin
Is Power always active? What kind of power does a “victim” have? S/M and D&S play with power and non-power, with “activity” and “passivity”, but who is really running “the game”?
Are we aware of our (actual) power? The less consciously we act or communicate, the easier we end up with misunderstandings, erroneous expectations and disappointment. This workshop explores in depth the power of the submissive and the powerlessness of the dominant. It is about active helplessness, the courage of humility and the art of Tempting. It deals with active passivness as well as with free-willed and powerful devotion. What responsibility do we have in our role? Where are the traps and the edges? And where are hidden treasures yet to discover?

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Biography Miras L. Verde

Conflict makes Sense
Miras L. Verde
Berlin
What are the typical misunderstandings and conflicts in different forms of S/M relationships? What makes these conflicts so particularly difficult? What kind of edges, fears, insecurities and dependencies are we confronted with? What are my possibilities as a submissive or as a dominant to deal with problems? How can I turn an unpleasant argument into a gain for both? A workshop of self reflection, where we can share experiences and find out about individual communication and possibilities for solutions beyond the usual strategies of fighting or escaping.

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Biography Miras L. Verde

Monogamy – Polygamy or 101 Affairs and No Partner
Paula L. Rosengarten
Berlin
This workshop explores polyamourous lifestyles and the problems they might involve. Yearning for a primary relationship? Or stranded in the imbalances of genders and roles in the S/M subculture ? Happily escaped from monogamy, but nevertheless feeling lonely? A lecture and discussion on lifestyle choices and relationship issues.

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Biography Paula L. Rosengarthen

Body Cult & Fetishism
Paula L. Rosengarten
Berlin
Between Body Cult and Beauty Ideals: the fetishistic point of view or a different aesthetic.
Slim and fat, hour-glass figures, scars and structures – body modification, body and material, high heels, hair, traces….
Paula will show photographed examples and moderate a hopefully controversial discussion about perception, aesthetics and the compatibility of extreme practices with health issues and political correctness.

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Biography Paula L. Rosengarthen

Free Love – Free Sexuality
Theo Altenberg
Berlin
Theo will show a short film on the issue and then moderate a discussion which will focus on the individual stories, experiences and wishes of the participants. He draws from thirty years of experience with all kind of group and couple relationships and might bring some wisdom into the debate.

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Biography Theo Altenberg

Performance & Action

Feet Washing Ceremony
delta®
Berlin
Washing feet was a normal part of life in earlier times, because roads were dusty and shoes were expensive. Therefore washing feet was a daily ritual, a sign of respect and esteem for fellow people. It was not only used to clean, but to heal and to care for the feet, which were sore due to long distance walks. Meanwhile the feet washing ritual has disappered from daily life. Nowadays the idea of washing feet often causes amazement or astonishment.
He would like to bring new life to this ritual and answer the following questions:
– Why are feet so sensitive?
– How does the sensation of our feet give an impulse to the rest of the body?
– What should I know, if I want to do a feet washing ceremony?

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Biography  delta® & C.D.

Japanese Bondage – Freestyle
Zamil & maliZ
Berlin
A Suspension Bondage – the bound person completely freefloating in the air -will be performed. After that everyone is invited to improvise with a partner or in small groups with different materials and ropes. Zamil&maliZ will assist you with tips,tricks and ideas and will even untie you, if you do behave well…

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Biography Zamil & maliZ

Self Expression I & II
Theo Altenberg
Berlin
Self-Expression is an experiment of ecstasy. It was developed by Otto Mühl and members of the Friedrichshof Commune (Vienna, Austria) in the Seventies. Every evening, from 1975 until the late Eighties, the members of the Commune and outside visitors met to celebrate the Unknown within Ourselves. The original form of Self-Expression links ideas from the happenings of the Wiener Aktionismus (1962-1971) with the theories of Wilhelm Reich and the rituals of tribal cultures.
The basic setting for Self-Expression is a circle. Everyone can step into the center and draw the attention of the others to his or her personal performance. The art of Self-Expression demands authenticity and a capacity for ecstasy. The person is required to bring his feelings, dreams and experiences into spontaneous expression, to create a strictly personal story from his/her internal chaos of images. This can happen through dance and movement as well as language and voice. Taboos can be transgressed and states of trance can be achieved. The only restriction is that actual violence may not be used. No one is allowed to menace or physically endanger other participants with his/her actions.
The creative process is supported by an experienced moderator, who sits on the side or even steps into the circle, and guides with comments and propositions. Self-Expression is an artform; it does not follow a therapeutic logic.

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Biography Theo Altenberg

BDSM & Performance
Felix Ruckert
Berlin
This is an experimental workshop for creative xplore participants with an inclination to public exposure. Felix will propose a few compositon tools and techniques that will be developed into a performance for Saturday evening. Topics are submission- restriction- exposition- presence

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Biography Felix Ruckert

xplore performance lab submission – restriction – exposition – presence
with Felix Ruckert, delta, C. and the participants of the “BDSM & Performance”-Workshop
To watch and to participate.

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Fuck for Forest
Tommy & Leona
Berlin
Tommy from Norway and Leona from Sweden found a great way to combine pleasure with politics. With great idealism they fight for the rain forest through public sex-performances. Their web site www.fuckforforest.com, featuring pictures and short videos of them, friends and supporters enjoying 100% environmentally friendly erotic activities collected more than a 100 000 dollars in only a few months.. But here comes the catch: None of the big environmental organization wants to accept their money, being too afraid of being linked to even the most innocent form of pornography.
Now they plan to start their own rain forest project.

xplore05 wants to offer Leona and Tommy a platform for their mission. They will talk about their ideas and projects and will animate a video and photo workshop inviting you to experiment with photographing and being photographed during erotic action. At the end of the workshop you can decide if you wish to donate your best shots to their cause… Bring your cameras and camcorders!!

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Biography Tommy & Leona

Feedback
Miras L. Verde
Berlin

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Biography Miras L. Verde