Event Details

SuspenDC is a flesh hook piercing and suspension event. You can get to feel what it's like to have temporary hook piercings. You can suspend from the piercings. You can watch or support others in their experience.

Why would anyone want to do this...?

Piercings are done by professional piercers and suspensions are rigged and performed by experienced suspension teams.

Though the event is scheduled to run about 8 hours, space is limited for the number of flyers. If you are going to get hooked, be on time to the event to make sure you can reserve a time slot to be pierced/suspended.

Registration Open

Online pre-registration for the March 18 , 2012 SuspenDC is now open through Friday March 16th.

Below are registration costs based on the number of hooks you would like, using standard 9 gauge hooks. If you would like to do a suspension using larger/specialy hooks or special rigging/equipment, ask us as soon as you arrive at the event, and we'll do our best to make that happen for you. *Note - we have added a participation level - Ball Dance which is not a suspension and does not use hooks.

Registration Cost Per Number of Hooks
# of Hooks	Ball Dance	Energy Pull (2)	4	6	8	10	12
Pre-Reg Price	$50	$100	$160	$200	$240	$280	$320
At-Door Price	$70	$120	$180	$220	$260	$300	$340
Spectators/Supporters - $20

Below are some more popular types of suspensions and links to more details and examples:

Vertical Suspension - Hooks are placed across your back, chest and sometimes arms - attached to rigging to lift you off the ground in a relatively vertical postition. Minimum of 4 hooks for folks under 250# unless you ask for specialty hooks/pricing. If you are over 250#, please select a minimum of 6 hooks.
Horizontal Suspension - Hooks are placed down the length of your body, attached to rigging so you can fly in a horizontal position, Minimum of 8 hooks.
Energy Pull - 2 Hooks are set in your skin and attached to ropes so you can tug against the hooks. This is good if you're new to this. If you want more piercings, you can negotiate that at the event. This is not a suspension and will not lift your full weight.
Ball Dance - Piercings with much smaller needles are used to set loops of monofilament in your skin from which pieces of either bells or fruit ("balls") are hung. Default is 4 piercings/"balls". If you decide you gotta have more balls than that (smirk), you can negotiate that at the event - $10 for each additional piercing/"ball". This is not a suspension and will not lift your full weight.
Spectator/Supporter - You can use the space, eat, drum and watch (or lend moral support) as your friends get hooked.

Vertical Suspensions

Hooks are placed across your back, chest and sometimes arms - attached to rigging so we can lift you off the ground in a relatively vertical postition. Vertical suspensions require a minimum of 4 hooks unless you ask us for specialty hooks/pricing. There are all kinds of ways to do a vertical suspension:

4 hooks across the back (sometimes called a 'suicide')
4 hooks across the chest
6 hooks down the chest (sometimes called a 'resurrection')
6 hooks down the back (sometimes called a "cobra")
4 hooks across the back plus 1 or 2 hooks in each arm (sometimes called a "crucifixion")

'Suicide'

'Resurrection'

'Crucifixion'

Horizontal Suspensions

'Superman'

Hooks are placed down length of your body, attached to rigging so you can fly in a horizontal position. This suspension requires a minimum of 8 hooks and is usually done in the following 2 ways:

'Superman' – 8, 10 or 12 hooks down the back of your body suspend you face down as if flying.
'Coma' – 8, 10 or 12 hooks down the front or side of your body suspend you face up in a reclining position.

Energy Pulls

Hooks are set in your skin and attached to ropes. You can attach the ropes to an anchor point so you have complete cotrol over how much you tug on your hooks. You can have a friend "seize the reins" and do the tugging for you, or you and a partner can play tug'o'war together.

We recommend 2 hooks if you're new to this, but you can do this with any number of hooks.

Ball Dance

A great (and traditional) way to have your first piercing experience! 4 piercings with much smaller needles than are used for suspensions are made into the skin to set loops of monofilament from which pieces of fruit ("balls") are hung.

You control the amount of tugging by how much you move. Bounce, dance, jump, or spin to get the endorphins going. Slow down, walk or sit if/when you need a break. Default is 4 piercings/"balls". If you decide you gotta have more balls than that (smirk), you can negotiate that at the event - with an additional charge for each additional piercing/"ball".

* This is not a suspension and will not support your weight!
If you wish to be suspended or to tug with your full weight or anything much more than the weight of an orange, sign up for a suspension or energy pull.

Spectators/supporters

Drummers

If this sounds interesting, but you're not sure if you're ready to try getting pierced, supporters and spectators are welcome, and encouraged.

Besides getting in the door, you can drum, have use of the space, and support and share community with those getting pierced/suspended.

Learn about Drumming with Us...

When Is It?

SuspenDC is Sunday March 18, 2012 from 1:00-9:00 p.m. Doors open at 1:00, suspensions/piercings start an hour after that. If you plan to get suspended please come early to reserve your time slot.

Requirements

All participants must be at least 18 years old.

All participants will be asked to sign a Liability Agreement and Waiver before entering the event - (view example from previous event). Please read the Registration Guidelines for more information.

We are asking that all participants and spectators be sober for this event. There will be enough endorphins and adrenaline to go around.

Food and Drink

We are inviting everyone to participate in a covered dish pot luck.

Please bring a healthy dish to share so we can create a meal as unique as our community.
We have plates, etc. and serving utensils at the club.
Sodas and such are available cheaply from the club’s bar.

Since we can't guarantee what folks will bring in to eat, you should consider what you need to bring in order to fully participate in the event. If you're getting pierced, you are particularly encouraged to bring in a snack or light meal to make sure you have the energy needed to help your body over the literal ups and downs of the event.

Take care of yourself, so you can be present enough to take care of each other.

Who's Doing It?

SuspenDC is organized by Kindlers of the Sacred Rhythm (Kindlers) in association with Professional Piercers and Suspension Teams from the greater DC, Maryland and Virginia area. We also work with the occasional special guest, for example when the acclaimed Steve Haworth hooked and suspended folks at our September SuspenDC.

Photography Policy

One of our photographers caught taking a photo of a participant getting pierced Any participant may bring in cameras, camera-phones etc.. to take pictures for personal use.

After spending the first years being a clearing house for the images taken at the event, we realize that we do not have the human power to accomplish this in a timely way. Rather than asking folks to continue waiting for us to complete our edits, we are opening the event up to allow folks to take pictures for their own private use. This means that the organizers cannot guarantee to any participant that they absolutely will not appear in any images taken at the event.

Everyone with a camera will be asked to honor the color coded wrist band system we have been using at the event:

Red bands for people ok with being photographed
White bands for people who do not want to be in pictures

As we have no control over participants who bring in cameras, we cannot guarantee their adherence to this request. For Flyers who do not want to be photographed, we can and will, upon request, ask the crowd to refrain from taking pictures during a specific suspension. We have no way to guarantee that a particular participant will not be caught in the background of some other shot , though.

Staff Photographers with professional equipment will be taking photos that may appear on the SuspenDC website and/or advertising materials for the event as they always have. And as always, only those folks who give us permission to use their image will appear on the event web site or advertising materials. If our staff photographers accidentally get someone in a shot who has not given permission, their likeness will be obscured/removed from the shot or the shot will simply be discarded.

If you feel that you will be endangering your job, livelihood, security, etc. by showing up in the background of someone's suspension or in a general gallery shot, this may not be the event for you. Please consider your needs before attending.

Before entering the event, everyone will be asked to have their photo taken with their ID so our photo-editors can have a visual record to match up names and faces of who's "cool" and also know who needs to be removed from any stray shots.

If you really don't want to be photographed...

don't stand in the middle of an obvious shoot - (duh!)
don't wear bright white or fluorescent colors - (duh! again)
keep your no-photograph bracelet/marker on and visible during the event
introduce yourself to folks with cameras and ask them to note what you look like and please do their best to avoid photographing you

Please take responsibility for your level of comfort around the camera lens. We cannot police that for you - nor can we guarantee that someone at the event won't get you in a photo and put it all over MySpace.

Also, if you are the one with the camera and someone asks you to not take their photo, please do your best to honor that request. Two-way street...

Get Hooked & Fly with Us!