This topic came up during a discussion with a student. The original question sounded: “Why does she bend her back when there is no rope? Is it for the photo?”
Movement “at will” is not the same as posing.
It would be too mechanical an interpretation if we judge any movement coming from the body and not directly enforced by the rope as posing for the photo.
Our bodies want to move, want to live, want to express… Bodies want to reach out and turn away. Seek release. Lean into the rope… yearning to feel more. Close down and hide. Go on tippy toes to feel beautiful. Even if not enforced by the rope. This is how bodies communicate what we feel – through the movement.
I think we are missing a huge layer of Kinbaku when we are not attending to that as a rigger / not allowing that as a model. It is not for the photo – it is for both, to notice it, to enjoy it, to partake in it, to build on it.
My companion had a point, however, as we do see a lot of models sitting still.
It’s definitely very cultural. In Europe, models are often motionless. In Japan, as far as I could observe, it’s squirming, fidgeting that makes all the fun. In Germany, they used to call models “passive”. I think it’s not the case anymore, but maybe the footprint stayed…? Maybe we try to “help” the rigger to tie a decent Gote, otherwise, they will never manage? Maybe DS dynamic also plays a role: don’t move without a command… it is the will of the Master that makes you move. Could be an interesting play, but then let’s play it consciously.
Immobilization is a play built on the assumption that there is a movement that wants to be.
Some bodies are more quiet, some are more “loud”, but it’s not about the intensity of expression, there is always a movement, just watch for it… Watch for all of trembling, sinking and hunching, clenching and withdrawing, stiffening and spasming, contracting and expanding, reaching out and opening…
So much potential for communication, for building the personal aesthetic, for deviating from a “that shape from the last workshop” session scenario.
Much more can be said on the topic… For today, I want to end with some inspiration for the models – quoting brilliant Mary Starks Whitehouse, pioneer of the Authentic Movement:
“Movement, to be experienced, has to be “found” in the body, not put on like a dress or a coat. There is that in us which has moved from the very beginning. It is that which can liberate us.”
To be continued…