Kink
The Morpheous Bondage Extravaganza
For the last ten years, rope bondage artists the world over have been gathering in their cities to watch while riggers, rope bunnies, voyeurs and kinksters engage in an all-night orgy of bondage and bonding. Incredibly, they have been doing this in public—right in the midst of the vanilla world. They’ve been doing it at an event that spiraled out from one small show in Canada; a show that has spread to eight countries, thousands of audience members and hundreds of thousands more watching online. This event is Morpheous’ Bondage Extravaganza.
MBE started in 2007 as one of the many events at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, the all-night, dusk til dawn city-wide art festival. The inaugural show took place in one of the storefronts in the city’s Queen West district, and although it may have been small by the standards of today’s events, it was truly significant. No one ever before had pulled together rope bondage out of the shadows of sex clubs and showcased it as an event in its own right. No one had enticed the vanilla art lovers of Canada to watch bondage performed alongside mainstream art before. Audiences that night saw something that they’d never seen before, and it changed everything.
It’s tough to remember, but 10 years ago, attitudes towards kink and BDSM were very different. We were living in a pre-Fifty Shades of Grey world where those of us who liked to combine pain and pleasure and domination and submission were seen as degenerates in a very real way. I couldn’t have really known, back then, just how the initial MBE was going to go down. We were way out west in a very literal way; you had to go to the fringes of Nuit Blanche to find us, and the fringes of your comfort zone to get involved. Thankfully, people did get involved. And from that little seed, something special began to grow.
That first night, I knew that something magical had occurred—and I wanted the magic to last. I wanted to inspire and foster an art movement on a scale no one had ever seen.
Over the years, I’ve done my best to educate others about BDSM and rope bondage. My books How to be Kinky, How to be Kinkier and Bondage Basics are all about learning the fun of what we do. But I had never had the chance to show the sheer joy of it to the public on a grand scale. And when I saw that I had the opportunity, I grabbed it with both hands.
My plan right from the beginning was to both pick people who were the best at rope craft— and also to pick people new to rope, novices that I could see had incredible potential. I wanted to nurture them so even at a lower level, they could have the chance to participate in something amazing. These newbies had to have that spark: the desire to innovate, to take creative and artistic chances. They had to have the heart of a lion.
Over the last decade, there have been some attempts to emulate MBE; to do something like us, at least. But they all missed the mark. None of them had that unique MBE vibe where you all feel like you are in the heart of something incredible happening and evolving. None of them had the true, powerful connections between rigger and bunny, and between crew member and audience. At MBE events, there is fire in the air, and everyone can feel it; that sweet, sizzling electricity when everyone is into it, everyone is connected, and everyone is horny as all hell.
Of course, the legacy of MBE will be that it inspired others to do better. To put on bondage shows that capture the spirit of it, and remain true to what bondage is really about: Connection.
As MBE grows, our performers grow also. With every events, our riggers, bunnies and crew surpass themselves, time and time again. I’m at the point now where I’m being left behind. Understand me when I say that’s not a bad thing. It means that I’ve inspired others to take what I’ve taught and be better. And that has always been what MBE has been about: Inspiring others.
Our show in Toronto on October 1st at 7pm EST at 444 Dufferin Ave will be the closing show in what has been an incredible tenth year. A decade ago, I could never have known that things would get so incredible. Everyone can watch it in person on online for free at www.mbeworldwide.com. We have always made it accessible to the public, to show off the art we love.
I am humbled at what I started has grown worldwide. Grateful that others that have come after me have seen the potential for how special and amazing artistic rope bondage can be.
-Morpheous
Images courtesy of iambic9 and MBE
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