xplore Sydney 2012

The Xplore Innovation

Very often within contemporary culture a separation is practiced between the arts of the body and sexual exploration. Disciplines such as yoga, dance and martial arts are rarely linked to curiosity about human sexuality. Too seldom is the question asked, for example, in what way sadomasochistic drives are mobilized in ballet or yoga, or how an ability to change partners and switch roles is cultivated by many types of dance. Conversely, those who practice unconventional forms of sex don’t ask themselves enough how their erotic lives could benefit from disciplines such as yoga, dance or the martial arts.

One of the innovations of xplore has been to bring together a highly developed interest in the body and sexual exploration. This has been largely the consequence of the founder of xplore, Felix Ruckert, a Berlin-based choreographer, whose work and life has been to cultivate the performance and artistic potential of the erotic field, particularly the ensemble of practices gathered under the title BDSM. As a festival, xplore has the form of a large three-day ‘conference’ with concurrent sessions with regular breaks, where participants can mingle and share what they have experienced. However, xplore is not an academic conference. it is an ensemble of workshops led mostly by professional artists, each on a particular topic of sexuality and/or corporeal experience that interests them. Participants are not so much lectured to, but given the possibility of an experience, each time new and unique. In the morning there are usually sessions focusing more on the corporeal (e.g., yoga, breath work, massage, authentic eros), while in the afternoon more psychological aspects are explored (e.g., tantric domination and submission, beyond the knot, being bad, the zen and alchemy of blood and sharp objects).

More than being an absolutely unique opportunity to learn and grow emotionally, xplore is for me above all a social innovation. It brings people together in ways that are scarcely imaginable in our culture. And yet, at the same time it always remains safe, sane and consensual. Beautiful,unpredictable things happen, and the connections we make will remain and reverberate for a long time after.

Peter Banki, Ph.D

 

–>website xplore Sydney 2012

Opening

   
Authentic Eros Annetta Luce USA
The Kissing Whip delta® Germany
Smell Taste Touch Dr. Peter B + delta® Australia/Germany
Rope for Fun Hajime Kinoko Japan
Holding Marina Kronkvist Finland
A Journey into Breath Marina Kronkvist Finland
We Thirst at First Marina Kronkvist Finland
     

Expanding

   
Feasting the Body Annetta Luce USA
Being Bad Dr. Peter B Australia
Using Shibari for Therapeutic Purposes Hajime Kinoko Japan
Erotic Clowning Ian Tulloch Australia
Tantric Domination and Submission Jacqueline Hellyer Australia
Distal Loving and Techno Pleasuring Jodie McNeilly Australia
Beyond the Knot Mark & Lani DV8 Australia
Naked Partner Yoga Steve Australia
A Touch More Tantric Steve Australia
Open Relationships Tristan Taormino USA
Owning Your Desire – The Predator and the Slut Vanessa Florence Australia
     

Intensifying

   
Zen and the Alchemy of Blood and Sharp Objects AñA Wojak Australia
The Biting Whip delta® Germany
Shibari for Sex Hajime Kinoko Japan
Fellatio (for Men and Women) Jacqueline Hellyer Australia
Aging Mark & Aleni DV8 Australia
CBT: Torture on Men… Mistress Tokyo Australia
Erotic Trance Tony Yapp & Marina Kronkvist Australia/Finland
Anal Play Tristan Taormino USA
Female Ejaculation Tristan Taormino USA
     

Love-Art Practices

   
The Art of Stripping Annetta Luce USA
Full Body Orgasm Andrew Barnes Australia
Mental Bondage Butoh delta® Germany
The Last Taboo: Money Dr. Peter B Australia
The Bordello Dr. Peter B Australia
Sex and Drugs and Writing Dr. Sebastian Job Australia
Bondage Competition Hajime Kinoko Japan
The Art of Talking Dirty Mark & Aleni DV8 Australia
The Initiation: Latex and Rubber Mistress Tokyo Australia
Feminist Porn Tristan Taormino USA