BDSM MEDIA NEWS!!!!
October 17, 2012
Sexapalooza arouses Ottawa’s interest (with video)
‘We’re not swingers, we just enjoy bondage,’ explains Mr. Jones in the dungeon
Source: Ottawacitizen.com. - ottawa Citizen - Canada
CANADA - OTTAWA - Enter the dungeon - the red tent at Ottawa’s Sexapalooza where anything goes, but discretion is key.No photos were allowed inside the dimly lit tent at Ottawa’s sex show as a man dressed in suspenders and a wife beater T-shirt, calling himself Mr. Jones, demonstrated for curious passersby how to properly tie a harness for bondage.
Ottawa is kinky, as it turns out. There are as many as 100 people in the city who practice bondage, and those are only the ones that Mr. Jones knows about.
“We’re not swingers, we just enjoy bondage,” Mr. Jones said.
“There’s a distinction.”
Sexapalooza-goers piled into the dungeon inside the CE Centre Saturday afternoon to watch Mr. Jones demonstrate on a volunteer with one of the dozens of ropes he brought in a suitcase.
“People from every walk of life are here for this,” Mr. Jones said as spectators stopped to watch.
The goal for Mr. Jones was to teach people to do bondage safely, and the importance of stretching beforehand.
That’s exactly what Liz Lewis, the creator of Ottawa’s Sexapalooza, had in mind.
The dungeon was an idea created to educate the public on a sexual practice commonly misinterpreted as violent.
“It’s not about pain. It’s about heightening sensation, about being erotic,” Lewis said. “With the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, now it’s suddenly mainstream.”
Lewis first launched Ottawa’s sex show in January of 2008 after Lansdowne Park managers agreed to host the event. This year, it moved to the CE Centre.
Since its inception, the sex show has exploded in the city and has attracted couples, seniors and everyone in between to a comfortable atmosphere to explore all things sex.
“People are coming here to do some shopping,” Lewis said. “Everyone is leaving with bags full of stuff, they’re having fun, they’re smiling.”
Lewis says Ottawa’s sex show stands apart from others - there’s no pornography and it’s less hardcore.
Take the sex museum, for example. It’s an educational experience in which visitors learn the history of bondage, the origin of sex toys in Egyptian times and other interesting facts about sex.
On Saturday, the atmosphere was light as burlesque dancers performed on stage before walking around the CE Centre in costume, turning heads as they did.
The Kinky Kabaret and Chippendale dancers, who looked like they’re out of the movie Magic Mike, heated things up later in the day.
And a sex show isn’t complete without seminars on lap dancing your lover, a female operation manual for him and 50 Shades of Vanilla.
A pole dancing booth was also set up and sold the activity as a sport, rather than a trashy performance in a strip club. Genevieve Vienneau, a student at the Cherry Blossom Pole Dancing Studio, showed off her moves as Sexapalooza-goers watched in awe.
Pole dancing, as is turned out, is more difficult than it appears.
mhurley@ottawacitizen.com.
twitter.com/meghan_hurley.
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www.ottawacitizen.com.
