It was the month of February 2023 when Pauline Massimo, teacher and artist of shibari, a centuries-old Japanese practice that consists of immobilizing a person with ropes, received a phone call. On the other side she heard the voice of Jaume de Laiguana, film director and producer of some of Shakira's most successful video clips.
Before Massimo had time to stop and think about why he was calling her, the filmmaker made her a proposal that was nothing short of irrefutable, especially for an artist like her, who has been listening to and admiring Shakira since she was 10 years old. The idea was easy to state, but extraordinarily complex to execute: he would have to tie and lift the Colombian singer's body a few meters off the ground, always safely. In the art of shibari, Lifting someone off the ground, even a few centimeters, is considered a risky practice.
“Also, hanging her with a mermaid tail, which weighed many kilos, was crazy, but she had great safety equipment. We spent the whole day preparing everything so that when the time came, it would be perfect. She did the scene twice and I was left in shock”, assures Massimo. First they made a test attempt with a double. After verifying that the knots were firm and stable and that there was no risk that Shakira, even wearing that heavy fish tail, would fall from several meters high, they proceeded to work directly on the video clip. The result gave image to the single empty cup by Shakira and Manuel Turizo, and in the process it became one of Massimo's best executed projects. “It has been an honor to see my work on the cover of millions of advertisements around the world. For people who do not understand this practice, it is just a photo with great aesthetics, but for those of us who know what the shibari, It means so much more.”
A little over a year has passed since that cover, but a few things have changed, especially when it comes to the practice of shibari. Seeing a universal singer like Shakira tied and lifted in that way sparked interest in many for a discipline that has recently become a trend on social networks. However, teachers of shibari, many of them with several decades of experience behind them and practitioners in the times when this was strictly related to sexual practices such as bondage, They warn of the danger of starting to experiment without adequate supervision.
There are those who say that the shibari comes from a martial art that ancient samurai practiced to torture their prisoners, but one of the spokespersons for Madrid Shibari Dojo, who prefers that his name not appear in the article, clarifies that it appeared as an erotic and BDSM practice. “It's a practice that comes from Japanese porn,” she says. “In a culture where you constantly need to hide your feelings, being tied up and tortured allows you to express yourself openly,” reads a text on her website. The tying is done with ropes of more than eight meters of natural fibers such as hemp or jute in safe spaces where there are always three people interacting: the one who ties, the tyer and the observer. “It is one of the most intimate experiences that two people can have, because you are willing to give up all control of your body to another person,” says the spokesperson for Madrid Shibari Dojo. And he warns of the need to find places where classes are taught by professionals, since dozens of studios have emerged in Madrid and Barcelona and not all of them have the staff equally prepared.
Pauline Massimo, 30, met him when she was 19, when she saw some diving photos on the internet. “The aesthetics of bondage “It caught my attention,” he says. It took the founder of Espacio Nos in Barcelona many years to find people at that time to teach her. “It was a very closed and dangerous world for a woman who wanted to learn how to tie,” she explains. But she did not give up: her strings had amazed her. “This is not about buying some strings in a sex shop or at a hardware store and tie up your partner at home. It's a much deeper ritual than that. A spiritual connection is created with the strings. It's magic,” justifies the Brazilian, and she also remembers that it is a risky practice because there are many possibilities of suffering injuries and moral damage for those who do not know their limits and take the practice further.
This is not about buying some ropes at a sex shop or hardware store and tying up your partner at home. It's a much deeper ritual than that. A spiritual connection is created with the strings. Is magic”
Pauline Massimo, 'shibari' teacher
In the case of Nick, who is part of the Madrid Ropes Association, he shibari came into his life at the age of 28. “I like to be tied up and tied up. I come from the world of BDSM, but I fell in love with the connection that is established between two people and the rope,” she says. He began training in the courses taught by the association in Madrid and now he is the one who teaches in the initiation courses. “Many people come because they say they have seen photos online and that they want to learn, but they don't know what it is about,” he says. All initiation courses begin by teaching the basic knot, the square knot of a column, which has a single structure from which all the ties start. It can be done on the floor or in suspension, as in the case of Shakira.
For Nick, this practice does not have to be sexual, since that depends on the agreement reached by the people who are going to participate in the act. “There always has to be prior negotiation, establishing limits and, above all, it has to be consensual,” he says. Non-verbal language during shibari It's very important.
The sensations produced by this practice are as varied as the types of people who allow themselves to be seduced by it. Some feel peace, others, happiness, and others, excitement due to the eroticism of the moment. But they all agree on something: “People feel free, even if it seems contradictory,” the teachers explain.
In the case of Aisha Cruz, 29, she found a way to express her art in the ropes. “I discovered it by chance studying theater and decided to focus my career as an artist on practice. Now, I dedicate at least five hours a day to it,” she says. For Cruz, the shibari It is a dialogue between two people where the communication channel is the rope. “It doesn't have to be sexual, it can be accompaniment. It can be fun or erotic. Listening, connection and surrender are fundamental in this practice. Suffering is pure pleasure,” he states.
The Sevillian artist does not like tying or being tied as much as tying herself. “It's the peaceful moment of the day, where I can decide if I want something to hurt or not,” she says. In a world where controlling suffering is sometimes impossible, giving Cruz that space of freedom comforts him.
“I am my own submissive and dominant. It is my responsibility to let go of control and grab it. And when I feel safe, I surrender to my ropes,” says Cruz, who identifies as an exhibitionist, which is why she likes that while she practices the shibari there is an audience present.
The spokesperson for Madrid Shibari Dojo agrees with this, who always assumes the role of rigger. He explains that every knot with every person is different. “As you make figures, they grab you, they grab you, they move you, they take care of you. He forces you to focus on the present,” he says. There are 534 students enrolled in his school in Madrid, and all the events they hold for months are full. Right now, the shibari is living a boom in Spain.
According to experts, this phenomenon is due to the speed with which information arrives through networks today. “Many people who would never have dared to experiment with their bodies have been able to let go of fear and learn more about the art of shibari”, he assures. One of the objectives of his space is the dissemination of the practice. Of course, he was always faithful to the principles taught by the Japanese.
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