Moments like this

A few month ago we were contacted by a young girl from Lisbon, she said she would be swinging by London for a few days with her partner in August and wanted to do rope with FredHatt. She said it had been a while since she’s been tied and her most regular rigger (Pedro) was travelling so much these days she found herself with a bit of craving for some challenging rope.

We didn’t think very much of the message, at most it seemed like an unusual request, we replied and casually suggested she come along to our new studio and see what happens.

It was a Monday, after a long day, I think we were both feeling a bit mellow and quite unsure about doing rope with a stranger we’d only met over the internet. It would have been easy to cancel, easier still to not have replied the first time, many months ago. But we didn’t and at 7pm the doorbell rang.

I’m very glad we didn’t cancel, because it turns out we had one of those moments you tend to have when you’re involved in the rope scene where you meet these amazing people and make wonderful connections. The partner, P. asked to take photos, everyone consented, and he started snapping away while Fred started tying. A while later she was in the air and it was like magic. The young girl, S. was so strong and beautiful in Fred’s rope it was like watching a beautiful dance piece. The rope was challenging, and she was graceful in her suffering the whole way through.

There was silence during the whole evening apart from the clicking of P.’s camera, and when there was a pause, I could see it in his face, that look: the look of someone who just discovered a new reality, a new beauty previously unknown to him. It was his first time seeing rope, a glimpse of what rope is, of what it can be, and the strength and beauty of his partner exposed through it.

It was beautiful. The rope, the moment, S.’s elegant stoicism, P.’s expression.

I’m pretty certain a friendship was made, and hopefully we will see them again soon.

<insert warm fuzzy emoticon here>