About

Dynamic Rope Arts & Movement Assembly (DRAMA!) seeks to bring together a curated group of shibari and rope bondage practitioners from around the world in an intentional, exploratory space dedicated to the advancement of rope as a performance and artistic medium. We center the idea that rope is not just a technique, but a language and artistic tool for storytelling, bodily expression, and aesthetic inquiry. Participants will be invited to share, co-create, experiment, and reflect in an environment that privileges risk, rigor, and respect.

Our mission is to further rope bondage as an artistic performance and an art modality, specifically as a performance tradition that has evolved over the past 70 years—shaped by circus, burlesque, and pornography, both in the West and in Japan. Our primary mechanism for furthering this artistic movement is to convene professional rope artists, along with other artistic professionals with adjacent skills, for a weekend of intense collaboration and celebration of our art within a broader community of rope lovers.

Core Principles

  • To foster artistic exchange and collaborative exploration of rope as an artistic and performance medium.
  • To support the development of new performative and conceptual work.
  • To cultivate a sense of community among those working at the edges of rope-based art.
  • To hold space for critical conversation, embodiment, and artistic process.
  • To balance vulnerability and safety in ways that allow for creative friction, emergence, and growth.

The Retreat

The retreat is a 7 day event spanning Monday through Sunday, comprising:

  • 4 full 8-hour days of intentionally structured collaboration and discussion aimed at cross-pollination and professional development for passionate rope artists, and
  • 3 days of structured rehersal and development time during the day with evening performances.

Our goal is to provide participants with a unique opportunity to perform for large audiences, supported by professional technical resources and video documentation that will create a one-of-a-kind artistic record. Evening performances will be open to the public.

DRAMA!

Common Questions

Dynamic Rope Arts & Movement Assembly (DRAMA!) is a unique gathering—part retreat, part conference, part performance festival. Because this format doesn’t exist anywhere else in quite the same way, we know participants may have questions about how it works and what to expect. Below, we’ve collected answers to some of the most common ones.

Experience

Seeking a deliberate, creative, and collaborative atmosphere, DRAMA! is invitation only. Invitations are extended by a small group of curators through a highly personal and selective process. Some guiding principles the organizers keep in mind when making invitations including:

  • Performers with an established or emerging rope practice that challenges, innovates, or deepens the understanding of rope as performance
  • Established artists or professionals in adjacent fields whose perspectives, skills, or experiences may inspire new forms and collaborations within rope performance The retreat aims to bring together individuals from a diversity of styles, identities, geographies, and performance lineages, while also acknowledging the inevitable limits of the format. The organizers make no claim to objectivity, and decisions are inevitably influenced by their own preferences, desires, and biases. Individuals who feel they may be a good fit are welcome to reach out to the organizers. However, doing so does not guarantee an invitation.

Coming Soon!

All attendees are expected to be self-resourced: emotionally, physically, financially, and logistically. Participants should be capable of navigating their own edges, managing their needs, and communicating boundaries with clarity. DRAMA! is not a space for beginners or those in active personal crisis. The organizers expect participants to approach the retreat with intellectual curiosity, emotional maturity, and a deep respect for others’ autonomy, consent, and process.

By being invited, you’re already part of this space. There is no need to prove yourself. While power dynamics will always be present, we ask that participants approach each other with respect and treat everyone as peers in this retreat. Please stay grounded, avoid fan-girling, and remember we’re here to share, collaborate and create together.

Logistics

The cost of the retreat varies year to year, and is primarily driven by the cost of bringing outside experts and the cost of renting a venue. Our goal is to keep the retreat as affordable as possible. As such, we attempt to offset much of the cost of the retreat with the revenue from TIFS. We hope to keep the cost of the retreat below $500 (CAD), and provide exact costs to invitees each year.

Note this does not include lodging, food, or airfare, just the ticket to the retreat itself.

We ask that all participants be in Toronto for all of the event, and actively engaged throughout the retreat. This does not mean participants are expected to be “on” every moment of every session. We encourage participants to step back, look after their boundaries, and engage in ways that feel positive.

Not really. Again we are doing our best to keep costs low and allow some dedicate time and say for particiaptns to offer private lessons. However, if money is a barrier reach out.

TIFS

You are!! By being invited to participate in the retreat we feel that you are a performaer the world deserves to see! If that isn’t enough for you trust us bro, we can be pretty convincing, a lot of people we’re getting on board are already internationally celebrated performers, you’re gonna have a great time and you’ll learn some stuff. It will be the time of your ropey life.

When it comes to the outside artists and experts brought in to teach at the retreat these are determined by a short survey we send to invitees early in the invitation process. If there are particular artists, performers, or teachers you think would be good for DRAMA! please let the organizers know.

Short answer: No. Longer answer: The only way for DRAMA! to ofer multiple days of programming including classes taught by professional artists in other fields for <$500 (CAD) is to offset costs with revenue from TIFS. If TIFS doesn’t run either DRAMA! doesn’t run or ticket prices for the retreat will likely double or triple.

So no, not everyone has to perform, and in fact there may not always be enough slots for everyone to perform every show they wish. It is important thought for a critical mass of retreat participants to perform at TIFS. Further, part of the DRAMA! framework is the retreat participants helping organzie and put on TIFS.

We aim to make TIFS an event worth your time by providing a supportive audience, a vibrant atmosphere, and opportunities for meaningful connection, learning, and performance. The goal is for this to be a unique once in the lifetime expereince.

Short answer: Yes, but not with money. No one is paid for perfroming at TIFS. The only way for DRAMA! to ofer multiple days of programming including classes taught by professional artists in other fields for <$500 (CAD) is to offset costs with revenue from TIFS. If TIFS doesn’t run either DRAMA! doesn’t run or ticket prices for the retreat will likely double or triple. Thus, we view the compensation for performing at TIFS as being backed into the reduced ticket price for DRAMA!. No one is paid directly for performing at TIFS.

Misc.

The inspiration for DRAMA! came from a deep desire to see shibari performance reach new light, and the strong pull to see rope performers to come together. In creating the event we hoped to create something quite original, but took inspiration from EURIX, NARIX, NdC, and numerous other rope and performance events. This is not to mention all of those who have shaped us individually as performers, artists, and humans. Thank you all.

Sorry, but that is not a question and you can get in line. We are going to fuck up, we are sure we already have. But we want to do our best to make something that at least some people think is cool.