Rope Performance: Authentic and Engaging Storytelling w/ @Sluttyhands & @Dancehalldyke

What makes a tie a performance? How do you plan an authentic rope performance? What makes a performance noteworthy and exciting, how can we keep our audience’s attention through the entirety of the scene? How do we decide what elements to include?

We believe rope performance is its own emergent art form deserving of deliberate energy and intention. In this workshop, Sluttyhands and Dancehalldyke will share their behind-the-scenes process for planning and rehearsing impactful performances.

Together, we’ll explore...

1. Selecting or working around themes
2. Integrating music and movement
3. Performance planning, building story arcs and pacing
4. Projecting emotions
5. ... and more!

Whether you’re preparing for your first rope stage appearance, or simply want to add more drama, intention, or visual storytelling to your scenes, this class is for you.

Prerequisites

This class has no prerequisites. Folks who are interested in and ready to perform, whether partnered tying or self tying, will get the most out of this class.

However, anyone interested in performing, regardless of their experience level with rope, can get something out of this class. Anyone looking to spice up their scenes, make them more dramatic, or more interesting to observers, whether for exhibitionism or photos, can benefit from this class.

What do you need to bring?

1. Rope (Bring whatever you typically use for tying)
2. Synthetic rope for upline if that's within your practice
3. You and your bottom's aftercare needs

We will also provide mats to tie on, snacks, and water.

Do I need a tying partner to attend?

Observers are welcome and encouraged, although we will have some partnered hands on exercises.

🎟️ Get your ticket here

Date: 28 Aug 2025 (Sunday)

Time: 2pm - 5pm

Instructor: @Sluttyhands & @Dancehalldyke

Location: San Jose

(You will receive the exact address in your confirmation email)

Door opens at 1:45pm and closes at 2:15pm. Please be on time.

Common Q&A

Do I need to bring my own rope?

We have loaner ropes if you don't have your own ropes yet. However, it is strongly advised to bring your own.

Do I need a tying partner?

Observers are welcome and encouraged, although we will have some partnered hands on exercises.

What should I wear?

For Riggers: Anything you feel the most comfortable in. You will feelwarmer than your bottom, so don't put too many layers on!

For bottoms: Tighter clothes are the best. For example tank tops and yoga pants. If you wear bras, please remember to take them off or wear wireless bras for upper body ties.

Will I be able to learn to suspend someone?

You will not be learning how to do rope suspension, but if you already have the skill to do so, you are welcome to use our hardpoint (first come first served).

Meet The Instructors

@Sluttyhands (he/him) and @Dancehalldyke (she/her) are rope artists from the San Francisco Bay Area. Sluttyhands has been tying for eleven years; Dancehalldyke for eight. Their style is mostly based on traditional Japanese shibari forms, strongly influenced by studying with Barkas and Addie. Together, they often explore intense, vulnerable, and dark emotional spaces. Sometimes their play is rough or unsettling; other times, sincere and affectionate.

Their goal is to invite you to discover new ways of exploring each other through rope—beyond just patterns—offering concrete tools for relating and communicating through the body and the scene. As educators, they bring over 30 years of combined experience teaching at the university level in mathematics, physics, and computer science. Their teaching approach emphasizes how to build scenes, how to move and be moved emotionally, and how to stay present in the emotional dynamics of rope play.