www.sm-arts.com

An indescribably powerful experience. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to touch the real magic of BDSM.

I had the great fortune to participate in this intensive a few weeks ago and would like to share a bit with the community.

The course started when I started filling out the application. It's followed by a phone interview with Madame Cléo. During the interview, she mentioned a few books that would be helpful to have read before coming to the intensive. The New Topping Book by Easton & Hardy and Consensual Sadomasochism by Henkin & Holiday. Sybil Holiday helped Cléo create this course. I found both very helpful. (Though it was a bit strange to be reading Consensual Sadomasochism at the Airport when a nun dressed in a white habit sat down next to me for a while :)

The course started Friday evening with everyone, the instructors, the volunteers, the participants and their partners getting together to meet and find out about each other. This also served as the start of finding a partner for the play party if you don't have one. The volunteers had all taken the women's course and were described as "Full Power Bottoms". And they were, giving clear feedback when appropriate. After a while, many of the volunteers left, and we started the class with the initial lecture, meditations, handing out of the workbook (over 100 pages of very clear and concise material to help you remember and expand on the course) and a small bit of homework. The evening focused on Who are you? What is your dominance style? What qualities do you have? And do they seem to cluster?

The first day we gather at the Citadel in San Francisco. One could view the outline for the day as developing the skills in the same order that is necessary for play. The training started with our attribute clusters and progressed to Archetypes, based loosely on the work of Carolyn Myss-Sacred Contracts, and how it can be applied to play. We then did a meditation to connect with our energy, the energy of the group and to bring it present. We then did several trust building and connection exercises that helped us not just instill trust in our partners, but in ourselves as givers of sensation, and reading our partners needs / limits.

Lecture on Negotiation: Followed by negotiation with three volunteers, one of which became my play partner for Sunday evening. An interesting feedback point I was given is it's important to always bring up sex, even if your not expecting/desiring it, because your partner may be expecting it.

Then it was on to technical skills (it's all skills, but I needed a word), this was a bit like a three ring circus, flogging, spanking, and caning. I spent my time on Flogging. Focusing on a lighter approach than I had been taught elsewhere. Using my wrist, rather than my shoulder. Of course, once someone's warmed up, the power from the shoulder becomes useful. One thing became clear, that even if you know a bit about using these tools, there is so much more one can learn. Dragging a flogger after a strike, multiple strikes in a single stroke w/ a cane, missing, anticipation, Kodo vs. Baba Olatunji rhythms, and more.

A lecture on topping / Scene dynamics followed by a Scene demo, Cléo and Elmo (one of the volunteers) did a very compressed scene in about an hour; no amount of description could possibly do it justice. It was fun, intense, sexy, spontaneous, and amazing. It was interesting talking with one of the other participants who had never seen that much sensation given before.

The day ended with a discussion and a bit more homework.

The second day was 12 hours long, fun and intense. Mostly focused on Ds.

Lecture on Ds & Collaring. Collaring exercise and exercises giving commands. Lots of fun yet serious with plenty of feedback.

Lecture on Archetype play, Humiliation games, age & animal play.

Archetype play, I did Age Play with Cléo. Found that my age play was too based in psycho drama, by going lateral to real life, it's quite possible to make the scenes a lot more fun, lively, and at the same time a bit safer.

JD of the Knotty Boys came by after lunch to teach ropes. If you haven't seen their work, check out their videos on YouTube or http://www.roperigger.com/code/videos also check out their books. Lots of fun and very high energy. Cléo told me that if he's in town he will come and teach.

Blindfolds, hoods and a meditation. An example of how reducing one or more senses increases the others. All I can say is that I had a very interesting and personal journey.

Genitorture demo – Minax & Elmo showed us how to use various toys safely. It was very intense and sadly too short.

Learning to pierce- Two of us opted to learn how to do play piercing. All I can say is that I'm very glad I did.

The Ritual-Quite an eye opener, a perfect prequel to the play party. Really must be experienced to be understood.

Play Party-I was quite fortunate to have found a partner for the play party. I was told it doesn't always happen. We did (what to me was) an intense sensation scene. A flogging followed by a caning over a 2+ hour time frame. My partner was more confident in my skills than I was and brought me both a heavy and braded floggers. Selina helped me get started with the flogging and Cléo helped me keep the caning from getting boring. I was able to go places that it might have taken me years to get the courage to try at the intensity I did. Wow!

All in all, I can't recommend the intensive highly enough. I'm still finding things that are opening and changing in my life as a direct result of my participation.

The next intensives are scheduled below:

Erotic Dominance Weekend Intensive for Dominant Women & Women Who Switch
July 19-20, 2008 in San Francisco
Hands on Training! Class limited to 9!
Gain the confidence you need to make your scenes soar!
Teachers: Cleo Dubois and Eve Minax, with the assistance of Selina Raven
www.sm-arts.com/intensives/women.html
www.sm-arts.com/intensives/form-women.html

Erotic Dominance Intensive, Professionals’ course
August 15-17, 2008 in San Francisco
Hands on Training! Class limited to 9
The techniques, fetishes and business of Professional Dominance
Teachers: Cleo Dubois and Eve Minax, with the assistance of Selina Raven
http://www.sm-arts.com/intensives/pros.html
http://www.sm-arts.com/intensives/form-pros.html

Erotic Dominance Weekend Intensive for Dominant Men & Men Who Switch
October 4-5, 2008 in San Francisco
Hands on Training! Class limited to 9
Dominate with presence and passion!
Teachers: Cleo Dubois and Eve Minax, with the assistance of Selina Raven
www.sm-arts.com/intensives/men.html
www.sm-arts.com/intensives/form-men.html