Power, as a dominant, is vulnerable, as one has to expose their desire. The more deviant and taboo, the scarier it is, but still, both mainstream media and the sadomasochistic subculture overflow with caricatures of emotionless masters and mistresses hiding behind their cruelty. Instead, I think one should blossom in their raw self-expression. Power is an opportunity to explore new avenues of esoteric intimacy that are profoundly energetic and sensual. Far beyond plain and mundane fucking. Learning to wield and surrender to power consciously and consensually requires a great understanding of one’s boundaries and being safe and brave enough to reject anyone overstepping them. At the same time, one should be humble and have humour; anyone that has to assert their power with violence doesn’t own it.
Power is given to someone that deserves it because of their deviant creativity, rocksteady presence, and ability to create magical spaces. Discovering one’s very personal dominant persona is a journey which will significantly affect what kind of submissives they will attract. Luckily sadomasochism overflows with expressions of power, and there are several rituals to practice and embody. And learning the symbolism of fetish items is a priceless tool for this transformation. Being dominant is a paradoxical balance between holding space and being selfish. Holding space is learning how to create a safe container for oneself and others to play with power while being selfish is expressing desire.
But eventually, one realizes that the real key is to stop ‘the doing’ and simply be dominant and do as one pleases as if it is the most natural thing in the world. As dominance belongs to the masculine aspects of the esoteric erotic polarity, mastering it beyond gender becomes a way to simultaneously make a parody of existing power structures while reclaiming a more healthy relationship to masculinity. Playing with hierarchies in the ‘bedroom’ makes one more resilient to them in everyday life. And, of course, as in any play with polarity, there is also space to plunge into the other end—the submission and surrender—to learn, challenge, and worship. In old-school leather culture, no one would ever be allowed step into the boots of the dominant before wearing the collar of a slave. But I promise I’ll be both more flexible and gentle.
Instructor
Andy is a student of theatre and tea, a medical massage therapist, a former organizational coach, a conscious kinkster, and a teacher of European and Japanese rope bondage. Living in Stockholm, Sweden and working around northern Europe. During his fifteen years of BDSM, he has been a slave, an owner, a hedonist, a purist, a magician, and a slut.
My present work aims to create magical rooms where people can rest, heal and grow in their relationships to surrender, power and desire. I move between art and therapy. In the arts, I venture for the maximum risk I can afford in the present to challenge the status quo. Therapy is the opposite by being the safest possible road leading to things known to restore balance and goodness. Both require a special kind of bravery.
Andy Buru
[Source: https://andyburu.se/]
Details
Date: Thursday 22. May to Sunday 24. May 2026
Friday
17:30 Doors open
18:00 – 21:00 Workshop
Saturday
09:00 Doors open
10:00 – 13:00 Workshop
13:00 – 15:00 Lunch Break
15:00 – 18:00 Workshop
19:00 – 21:00 Ritual
Sunday
09:00 Doors open
10:00 – 13:00 Workshop
13:00 – 15:00 Lunch Break
15:00 – 18:00 Workshop
Dinner together
Venue
CRUCIBLE/Vienna
Thalhaimergasse 41
1160 Wien
Tickets
300€ per person (9 / 21 available)
Requirements
none
Registration
We ask all participants to register individually at power@querverbindungen.at
Please note the cancellation policy
Language
English
Food
Lunchbreaks together or by yourselves (a lot of great food places are nearby!)
Snacks, coffee, etc. are provided on location.
Bring
- comfortable clothes for moving on the floor
- elegant, fetishistic and/or hedonistic clothes for moving in hierarchies
- clothes for being messy, or a readiness to be more naked
- a tool for stingy pain, maybe your grandma’s wooden kitchen spoon to an artisan-made 24-plait kangaroo leather single-tail
- pen and paper for notetaking
We are looking forward to welcoming you at this fantastic workshop!