Strike all of the frivilous commentary made in anticipation of "The Art of Ypsilform Dining" the cunnilligus workshop being generously provided by caesandra this and next weekend at Squeaky Wheel. This was a thoughtful, playful, well-researched, and artfully composed tutorial on the exploration of this means of providing female sexual pleasure.
The workshop sprung from caesandra's labors while working on her MFA thesis at UB.
Saturday was a "mixed" night, which allowed for both male and female participants; straight and lesbian couples, singles, etc. I arrived a few minutes late, so I may have missed the whole story, but one of the gentleman was a fine art (read:erotica) photographer who was raised in Sweden. Apparently all the above is part of the curriculum for middle schoolers (or below?) in his country of origin. Provided for some interesting perspectives.
The workshop featured a history of tongue-dancing through art and literature, a tour of female anatomy, tongue exercises (some of us ate our peaches; mine was a little under-ripe), positions (thank you, yoga), associated slang, and a few toys, as well.
We even got goodie bags to take home!!!! And a Certificate!! Might be worth less for me than some others, but I think it's important to be informed on the receiving end as well.
I forgot to pay my required $5.00. This is probably one of the few events at the Infringement Festival that might be worth the extra zero or two.
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5 comments:
One of the events that are "worth" the extra "0". Can you jump off your self-appointed position of letting people know YOUR feelings on the Festival or does it feel good to judge what's worth coming to and what, in your poor journalistic style, isn't cool, hip or fun to watch. Grow up.
Yes, but objectivity is subjective.
Time for a response to comment # 1:
a. I stand firm in my opinion that this workshop might be worth the $50.00 (or more). This was to point out the value of this WORKSHOP, not to negate the value of any of the PERFORMANCES. I love good theatre,music, poetry, performance art, etc., but my experience is that the effect is often transient (as is it's nature), and the best stuff is rarely the most costly. The workshop was teaching a SKILL.
b. This position isn't self-appointed. The Infringement folk were looking for someone (anyone)to commit to seeing some shows and voicing their opinions. That would include you.
c.What is the nature of a critique?
d. I have no pretensions about my ability as a "journalist". I'm a working stiff who committed to the above.
e. Controversy is the name of the game.
you said it sister
Wow, Anonymous Commenter #1, way to harsh the vibe wtithout even identifying yourself!
For the record, Chris is exactly right (as I see it, in my own-self appointed position)--
1. her position is not self-appointed at all; as I explained in an earlier post, we explicity asked at an open meeting for volunteers to serve as roving reporters for the blog throughout this year's festival, and she generously answered the call. Personally, I love reading her feelings on the festival. (BTW, I love reading EVERYONE's feelings on the festival--what each person thinks is worth attending, what isn't, etc.--and I wish a LOT more people would do what Chris is doing, and I've done everything I can think of to encourage it. I would certainly encourage you yourself to email me your contact info so I can add you as a roving reporter if you're up for that.)
2. In another sense, EVERYTHING in this festival is "self-appointed." Several years ago, a handful of artists in Montreal appointed themselves the task of starting a festival, then a guy from Buffalo found out about this crazy thing people in Toronto and Montreal were doing, and he appointed himself to convince some other people in Buffalo it was worth doing here, and enough of them (incluiding me) agreed with him, so we appointed ourselves the task of organizing the festival, and then a bunch of artists appointed themselves the role of participating in it. There is no board of directors, no curatorial team, no central committee at the international headquarters, no nothin' but a bunch of people around the world who think this is a cool thing to be doing with their lives at this particular moment in history. This blog, and the main website, extend that concept one step farther.
3. One of the things I see happening this year that I REALLY love is that more people (audiences, journalists, etc) are moving beyond the role of cheerleaders ("wow, it's so great that this festival exists!") and taking the concept seriously enough to talk critically about what parts of it they love, what parts they're not so crazy about, what they wish would change to make it better, etc. We do need cheerleaders, too, but if the festival is to grow and move forward in interesting ways, it needs to embrace criticism. Same thing with the individual shows--thus the blog reviews, and thus the request for more bloggers. I enjoy Chris's outspoken approach--she doesn't mince words, and as a result, she is not afraid of getting other people (like you, Anonymous Commenter #1) to speak up as well. I don't always agree with every single opinion she expresses, but that's not the point. I DO always marvel at her "journalistic style," which I find thoroughly enjoyable and completely in keeping with the festival and the blog. Rock on!
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