Origins
Seattle Rope Salon was founded in 2021 by Pallace Garza, a transfemme Chicana, in order to create a brave space for queer rope bondage. A student of Shibari since 2017, she has trained in NYC, L.A., Berlin, and Seattle. Her emphasis is on therapeutic sub-space and semenawa, divine agony. With over 10 years of teaching experience she can accommodate a wide range of learning styles to transmit her playful passion for rope.
….and she loves ALL things rope. Her direct teachers and inspirations have included Tamandua, Kasumi Hourai, Fuoco, Kirigami and Tenshiko, Fuoco, Sydona, Nawashi Kanna, Yagami Ren, Nureki and Naka, Hajime Kinoko, Banane, and Namor. The salon is a brave space for everyone but in particular, it is intended as a kinky haven for queer people and people of color. Pallace is also an Ayurvedic practitioner, Licensed Massage therapist, and BDSM photographer available for collaborative projects. “Our rope family is a kaleidoscope, constantly evolving and growing with time.”
Philosophy: Rope and Stick
The “Rope” along with the “Stick, are two of mankind’s oldest tools. The stick to keep the bad away, the rope used to bring the good toward us. They were our first friends, of our own invention. Wherever there were people, there were the rope and the stick. —Kobo Abe “Nawa”
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It all begins with consent. “The term “consent” means the affirmative, unambiguous and voluntary agreement to engage in a specific activity .” Practicing Rope Bondage (Shibari/Kinbaku) in a consensual and radically intimate way liberates it from its police-state origins. Remember: Consent can be withdrawn at anytime, by the Rope Top (Rigger/Nawashi) or Bottom. Consent often looks like enthusiastic participation and it’s constantly evolving in real-time. Therefore, here at Seattle Rope Salon, we check-in with the people we tie so as to ensure their physical and psychological well-being all throughout the rope sessions. However, Rope Bondage has inherent risks, it’s important to educate yourself beforehand so all parties can consent with utmost confidence.
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I define myself as a soft sadist. I let the rope do the work. I prefer the delicate trembling, drooling, whimpering, and melting of a successful scene. In a photo-session, I can take on a focused and distantly humble demeanor, to not distract from the natural reactions of a bottom’s experience. Whereas private sessions are much more co-collaborative. I have been called nurturing and encouraging, to help people expand their limits, perceptions, and sensations.
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Rope Bondage isn’t all about eroticism. For many people it’s a type of compression therapy. Temple Grandin pioneered the use of compression therapy in humans and animals to treat states of hyper-arousal and anxiety. There are several types of deep pressure therapy including weighted garments, swaddling, cuddling, squeezing, and therapeutic brushing. Rope bondage engages the Parasympathetic Nervous system, causing the body to relax and regenerate.
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Translated roughly “Aggressing Rope”. This is an advanced form of rope bondage that is best suited for experienced rope tops and bottoms. It is characterized by strict postures, rough rope, intense tension, and erotic predicaments. Riccardo Wildties says: “torture starts when you are passing the threshold of “what is enough”. It is in the moment in which an ordinary bondage scene would stop that torture starts.” The submissive head-space achieved here is profound, but it can make consent much more important yet more difficult to navigate. The truth is that during Semenawa people can sometimes dissociate or experience unlocked emotions, so the people involved should intimately know each others’ cues and signals (i.e safe-words). In this way, it is important to facilitate psychological aftercare.
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Personally, I find the typical western aesthetic of male dominance to be rather boring. This theatrical heteronormativity is all pervasive in the industry. I find queer expressions of power and gender to be more fascinating. Ultimately, the rigger’s ego cannot be bigger than the intended goal: provide intensity for your bottom.
