Osada Steve is currently touring Europe giving workshops in Copenhagen, Berlin, and London — all sprinkled with a few performances at various venues, several video shoots, and individual tuition and training in shibari and kinbaku.
Osada Steve will return from his 6-week tour by mid-October. For Tokyo performance and Event schedules see here: http://www.osadasteve.com/events
In the meantime we received a report from a lady fan who attended Osada Steve’s recent performance at the classy Residenz Avalon in Berlin. Here it is:
Osada Steve performance @ Residenz Avalon, Berlin, 12 September 2009
by Ansoni & am3n3
We (Ansoni & am3n3) and three Berlin friends went to Residenz Avalon last Saturday night, and made our way to the large, tastefully lit main hall. Not long after we arrived, two students of Steve’s treated the audience to a choreographed double (simultaneous) performance, demonstrating the merits of the Osada-ryu yokozuri (sideways suspension) with their models.
Next, quite a surprise for us: A female student of Steve’s reversed gear and did a take-down demo on a male student with some lightning-fast hojojutsu inspired ties — culminating in a suspension progression.
A short while later Osada Steve’s first show began. The center stage had been set up like a formal lounge, and was equipped with single marine rope, carabiners, spinning joint, with the rope attached to a pulley hanging about 10m above — a dramatic setup.
We were very happy to see aiko-chan at the top of the stairs brandishing a whip dressed in a dress shirt, matching bra & panties, and some very high clear heels. As aiko-chan sat on a seat on the stage, Steve went to her, and down on one knee presented her with a bunch of flowers which she brushed aside, unimpressed. Next Steve offered her a candle and a series of whips, all were met with the same disinterest from aiko-chan. However, when Steve produced some rope, a pantomime look of fear came onto her face and Steve chased her across the stage and started the first of their tying routines; aiko-chan is such a ham!
Since we practice tying ourselves, we wanted to observe the work by those who practice Osada-ryu on a more technical level, but when it came to Steve & aiko-chan’s turn, we were mesmerized by the craft & aesthetics of their performance and found recalling technical specifics for this write-up very difficult. We were sat on the front row, so the action was right in front of us, and we could feel the whiff from every crack of the whip.
After Steve & aiko-chan’s entrance, Steve began suspending aiko-chan, followed by pieces involving whipping & wax-dripping. The candles were wedged in-between rope just above aiko-chan’s back and thighs, the candle wax dripping on her naked skin. After Osada Steve had removed the candles from the ropes, he started applying the hot wax in earnest while holding them in his palms — to the delicious squeals & screams of hapless little aiko-chan.
While still suspended, Steve started to lift aiko-chan further, holding her literally above our heads, then releasing her for some free large-circle spins. The entire suspension progression involved too many individual shibarikata to remember or count, yet I recall aiko-chan being placed in an inverted suspension, dangling by her ankles alone — and getting another tastes of Osada Steve’s fiendish collection of single-tail whips.
After a short break, Steve and aiko-chan treated us to a second performance, this time with aiko-chan dressed in more traditional Japanese costume. After a strict yokozuri involving next to impossible body contortions, Osada Steve tied aiko-chan to a table and started whipping her with a wet mameshibori tenugui (a piece of water-soaked cloth), the resulting spray catching the light (and those seated in the front row) nicely. The whipping concluded with Steve thrashing aiko-chan with the two bunches of fresh flowers that she had previously rejected. This is probably the only time we’ve seen flowers used as an offensive weapon, but never mind… 🙂
Both performances were greeted by rapturous applause from the audience. I think someone must have asked Osada Steve backstage to please do one more performance, and so we were all treated by third set of suspension. This time aiko-chan came dressed in a tiny, sexy, blue babydoll. It was a “gentler” performance compared to the previous two, with some more swinging above the front-row audience.
Residenz Avalon staff were great and the other members of our small group who witnessed their first Osada Steve show were instant converts. One of them was totally smitten by aiko-chan when we introduced her to him, and he was huffing & puffing afterwards.
