SEAF 2010

I had the opportunity to attend the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival on Saturday, May 1st (thanks to Polly Wood for the ticket!), and experience for the first time the wide melange of psycho-sexual curio that SEAF has to offer. I will keep my comments on the visual art brief. Very little spoke to me on a personal level, but to paraphrase a quote from the festival: one man's pornography is another man's erotica. Fair enough. Suffice it to say that many facets of sexuality were represented, from artistic nudes, to abstract and grotesque nudes, to any number of fetish themed pieces; including piercing (the woman's body turned into a harp was amazing!), scaring, of course varying degrees of BDSM.

The first performance of the evening was Naked Girls Reading; hosted by Elsa Von Schmaltz, with Jesse Belle Jones, Ember Divine, Polly Wood, and Heidi Von Haught as readers. For those of you who have not seen NGR, it is exactly what it sounds like. Naked...Girls...Reading. The selections they read at SEAF were actually pieces: poetry, short stories, and even a play, submitted by individuals to SEAF. The play about the elusive G-Spot as read by Polly and Jesse Belle was my favorite. I do have a question, something I just don't understand, why is violence, humiliation and non-consent so appealing? I don't get it. Pain, I can understand, but violence... it is foreign to me. Content aside, I enjoyed NGR and I look forward to attending their monthly shows at West Hall, Oddfellows Building.

There were other performances, pieces done on the many beds scattered throughout the exhibition hall. There was a rope demo on one, Polly Wood performed a burlesque piece on another, and people frequented another (I played on it as well) where they could play while a solarized video camera captured their movements and then projected them on a wall to add to be viewed whilst performing. Hot!

The warm up act to the main-stage performance was a flash (in more then one meanhing of the word) mob performed by small groups on the crowded dance floor. Stripping down to red underwear and dancing suggestively with their partners, the groups played while the crowd watched. My favorite was a trio (two guys, and a girl) who played off in a less crowded corner. Their was a bit more subdued but there was a genuine quality that I appreciated. Of course at the end they all picked up there clothes and went on as if nothing happened. Bummer! I don't believe sex should be work, but then again...that is one person's view.

The main stage performance was, pardon my English, FUCKING FANTASTIC!!! Stars from the burlesque community (largely Seattle) performed in an intricate, beautifully orchestrated, story exploring sexuality, kinks and the celebrating that we are all 'normal, kinky, freaks." I cannot do justice to individual performances, I simply do not have the vocabulary to express my appreciation. For most of the show, I stood, in silent awe.

The star studded cast included: Buttons DuPrise (sp?), the Shanghai Pearl as a gorgeous mermaid captured by the Twisted Monk (Sick & Twisted for sure), Fuschia FOXX, Waxie Moon, Paula the Swedish Housewife, Inga Ingenue, Miss Indigo Blue, Paris Original, Liza Rose (her umbrella number was AMAZING!), Dirty Martini, Sydni Deveraux (how she got her top off still eludes me, masterful misdirection!), the Luminous Pariah (I normally don't enjoy lip sync, but damn, this one is good!) and Jean du Jour. I am sure I forgot somebody, and I apologize. You were all fantastic!

One thing of particular note in the performance was the on going tale of the stag as told, in part by Jean du Jour in stag helm, but largely by a crack team of puppeteers. The story told was one of a majestic stag (there is something hot about the power and grace in that creature) being shot, and caught by hunters, then rescued by a maiden. Through the various movements of the story the maid and the stag begin a flirtatious game of forbidden love which culminates in a wild, and masterfully pantomimed bout of love making. Her glitter spray climax, followed by the impressive stag cum shot (I'll never think of silly spray the same way again) added a level of over the top comedy to the beauty of the piece. Loved it!

The performance ended with a guest appearance by Dan Savage, and a parade through the audience of the performers. Call me old fashioned, but I love a story with a good morale or lesson and the saga of Buttons and his Auntie Babu, had a good one. You only have one life to live so live it, and love it. If everyone could follow this, I truly think the world would be better off.

My hat off to all the performer at SEAF 2010. I am honored to belong to a performance community so full of talent. I only hope that I can one day add something of worth to it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the chance to see the beauty of Auntie Babu's Curious Cabinet is passed for this year, but keep your eyes open for other opportunities to see the performers I have mentioned here. I guarantee you, they are worth it. Grace, sensuality, comedy, drama, power, sex, glitter, pasties... they have something for everyone to enjoy and remember. I know I will remember SEAF 2010, and I look forward to next year. Who knows, I may be lucky and get a chance to participate!

~ Fosse Jack