Seminars: Plush Animal Fetish
                Queer/Straight School For Submission

Peter

has been studying philosophy and literature since 1988, learning from a string of contemporary thinkers, including Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Nancy. He currently lives in Berlin on a scholarship of Berlin's Free University. He has published essays on Blanchot, Heidegger, Derrida, Freud, Lyotard and Lacoue-Labarthe for acadamic magazines in English and French. He is currently writing his dissertation at the New York University Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, his supervisor is Avital Ronell. The doctorate is about forgiveness in an epoch of crimes against humanity.

Since 2003 he has taken part in several workshops with Felix Rückert, in Jagniatkow in Poland, Berlin and Black Rock City. Prior to that he worked in New York with Daniel Lepkoff, one of the originators of contact improvisation. He first danced in 1997 with Annetta Luce, who taught him to be aware of his feet. In 1998 in Sydney he was co-founder of the online journal contretemps.

Seminar: Plush Animal Fetish

Many people give up their plush animals well before they go into puberty. However, there are also quite a few who never give them up, and courageously carry them into adulthood. For me, they are not toys, but living creatures, with unique personalities, likes and dislikes, and even sexualities. Beyond giving emotional comfort and reassurance, they create magical worlds of intimacy that it is possible to share with others.

This workshop is a unique opportunity to "out" yourself as a plush animal lover, or otherwise open yourself to an experience that is warm, funny and intimate, and which for some is more confronting than the most bizarre SM practices. I will talk about the role they play in my life, and in my relationships. Then they will introduce themselves. Circumstances permitting, we will let them take over the workshop, and lead us. For people with a sense of humour!!

Note: Plush animals are very anxious to meet new play partners. Bring along your favorite one, or take them all!

Seminar: Queer/Straight School For Submission by MonaBlue and Peter

Did you ever fantasize about being a student in a school for submission? Or a teacher? This is a special school, for those interested in the various arts of submission and devotion. Each participant will have the opportunity to teach and to learn. The school will be structured according to a quasi-heterosexual premise, where "men" will teach "women" and "women" teach "men", however each participant may choose the gender they identify with—and/or wish to engage with. Teachers will invent the class they wish to teach, and students will choose the classes they wish to take. However, there will be evaluations...

Whoever you are, you are going to learn something about yourself and about others. This is an opportunity to build trust and to feel questioned.

Saturday: Men/Teachers (Principal: Mona Blue) – Women / Students
Sunday: Women / Teachers (Principal: Peter) – Men/Students