The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Many people use music during their Shibari scenes. It provides them with a sense of rhythm, it helps participants relax, and it also sets a specific emotional mood. It might not be the most traditional way to do it, but I think it’s a valid option. Likewise, there’s no law that forbids riggers from using classical music during a rope session. And from that to using the same music that Disney used for the most famous scene of “Fantasia”, there is only one step. I guess that was the reasoning behind a scene called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. I saw it in an exhibition last week.

Tampering the Disney universe in particular, and childhood references in general, is nothing new in kinky art. Google it, if you don’t believe me. The interesting fact about this particular performance is that it followed closely the original scene, but with a Shibari twist.

The bottom, of course, played the part of the aspiring magician, who accidentally unleashes a magic far beyond her control. Her outfit wasn’t like the one of the character in the movie, perhaps for copyright reasons. But that wasn’t important. The point is that, instead of just standing there, waiting to be tied, she actually did the first part of the performance on her own, making a choreography which told the beginning of the story. I must say that her curiosity and her innocence in front of magic, turned out all the more appealing, since everybody in the audience knew where she was getting.

In case you’re wondering, the rigger didn’t appear in a broom costume. Making a slight variation on the story, which is always a good thing, he appeared dressed as the old magician. And he punished the girl by tying her with the same ropes she had magically “awakened”.

For me, as someone who has been to several exhibitions, it is always a good idea to include some sort of story within the scene, because it helps the audience to better understand the emotional dynamic.

This is the story of the sorcerer’s apprentice.