Returning to Brussels, in July Dasniya Sommer will be teaching two Yoga+Bondage workshops at Charleroi Danses – La Raffinerie. The first workshop will be five days of yoga and shibari, from Monday July 11th – Friday 15th. The second, over the weekend of July 16th and 17th, will focus on advanced shibari technique.

There are Some photos from last year’s workshop at La Raffinerie, and video / photos / text is on Dasniya’s website. If you know people in the area who are interested please let them know.

More details below:

Yoga & Bondage, Shibari Technique July 2011, Charleroi/ Danses

1) Yoga und Bondage:

July 11 – 15, 2011, Monday to Friday 12 – 18 pm
Max 20 people
Costs: 120 Euro

2) Shibari Technique Advanced

July 16th & 17th, Sat&Sun 12 – 18 pm
Max 12 people
Costs 100 Euro

Costs for both workshops 180 euro.

Contact Dasniya at email hidden; JavaScript is required

More infos at: www.dasniyasommer.de

Download the Yoga & Bondage workshop description: Yoga + Shibari Text.

(A description of the Shibari Technique Advanced workshop will be here in the next days.)

Yoga & Nawa Shibari

The workshop combines principles of Yoga with the tying technique Nawa Shibari. This Japanese term is usually translated as winding, knotting or binding a rope. It refers to the classical Japanese practice to tie up a person and was originally developed by Samurais in the 16th century. Today it is a technique to play physically, to perform or to experiment with the body and restriction. The styles in Shibari are noticeably versatile, yet one can say that there are basic figures to use ropes effectively.

A crucial aspect of this is the combination of functionality with aesthetic rules. There are particular shapes and angles to tie rope, which create a certain look and a sense of solid limitation at the same time. This is comparable to a moment of embracement, which supports the body and enables the tied person to relax into the ropes. In this sense the material can be understood as an extension of arms. A firm hug.

Then there is the Kinbaku side in Shibari which is more concerned with the biochemical or psychological effects. In Japanese tradition they speak of capturing a persons heart, to connect to the partners spirit or to touch them soulfully. This experience of fragile intensity can happen in both directions. The tying person and the person being tied can direct the scene from their individual angle. The notion of power shifts within the constellations and is often not as straightforward as it appears from the outside.

To guide the mind in an enjoyable way and to bring it back on the ground is a matter of sensitive touch with ropes and care. To shape the figure from inside is an equally minimal and a seductive task. Beside the serious and almost orthodox way of Shibari technique there is an utterly playful and animal like experience in ‘play’.

By starting the 6 hours with a 90 minutes Yoga session, the perception of the body gets refined before we engage into partner work. The Asanas (Yoga postures) focus on the efficient use of muscles or on alignment of the torso, head and limbs. Rotation of the spine or balance exercises can be tried in variously challenging postures. The levels in both practices can be mixed, so that everybody works within their personal and anatomical realm.

Dasniya Sommer Biography

Since the age of five, Dasniya Sommer was taught in Yoga and Abhidhamma Buddhist Philosophy by her family. She received her dance education at the Ballet Academy Hans Vogl in Berlin, at Dance Space Centre in New York, and performed with the Staatsballett Berlin. Among her dance and Yoga teachers were Susan Klein, Risa Steinberg, Daniel Lepkoff, Julyen Hamilton and the Labor Gras collective.

During her early 20s, she worked as a model for Vivienne Westwood, Sonia Rykiel, and Howard Schatz, and trained at Reha Akademie Berlin in Physical Therapy. Between 2007 and 2009 Dasniya founded and developed the venue Schwelle7, an experimental project space in Berlin, with the Choreographer Felix Ruckert.

The present focus of her choreography and performance is Shibari, (Japanese rope bondage), which she has studied with practitioners Osada Steve, Chanta Rose, Arisue Go and Kinoko. She teaches workshops combining this with yoga in Berlin and across europe. Her work gained wider recognition in contemporary dance through her solo performance MA√ 15 { idiosyncrasy } || sin x = ly – fx²¯, using ballet, meditation, and self-suspension techniques, presented by Tanztage Berlin 2009 and Arte.

In 2010 the Museum of contemporary Art “Kiasma” in Finland presented a participatory Rope Installation as part of the “Theatre Now” Festival.

Most recently, she performed with the Helena Waldmann Company, and was part of the artistic team in Roméo Castellucci’s staging of the opera, Parsifal at La Monnaie | De Munt in Brussels.

Dasniya’s research is strongly influenced by her philosophical studies, which she undertakes at the Humboldt University of Berlin. She reflects on questions of body concepts and ethics in her stage work as well as her teaching.

In her current artistic collaboration with the performer and choreographer Frances d’Ath she examines structural aspects of Shibari, without following traditional notions of gender roles or the traditional fetishised aesthetic.