This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting and filming with the first wave of this season's British invasion.
The vanguard here was composed of Honey and Sable, both from the London Wrestling Studio (LWS). And the fabulous Indra served as liaison and facilitator, having originally come from LWS herself before setting up long-term camp here in NYC.
Honey I knew as the lady who runs LWS, and I had heard of her before from Indra and other British colleagues, but I hadn't heard much about Sable prior to her visit. I knew that VeVe was excited for her match against Sable, though VeVe herself wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Hanz was definitely excited for his match with Sable. VeVe was eager to get her ropes into the Brits' hands and around their bodies. And above all, Indra was very excited for all of us to meet each other.
So! We got ourselves all booked at the studio for filming on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and the meet-up / marathon filming weekend began!
Saturday: Competitive Wrestling with Sable and some Ropes
VeVe, Hanz, Sable, and I arrived at the studio early on Saturday evening for the first 3 videos on the slate. We were trying to allow time for Honey to arrive to see VeVe vs Sable, so we scheduled that match for last in the line-up. And so, we opened the evening of filming with a mixed competitive match between Sable and Hanz.
That match was grueling. The two opponents were only 15 lbs apart in weight, and both came on to fight with a style I will call "Old School with an Edge." Neither wrestler was excessively technical, though they both had good body-smarts and "mat sense." Both were used to hard tussle-style wrestling... and I'm not sure either knew exactly what to expect from the other. Sable brought a lot of raw strength into the game, particularly with her legs, which left Hanz quite impressed. A very even and egalitarian battle.
Hanz has that match up now in his studio called "Hanz Vanderkill's Mixed Battle Theatre." He also wrote a full account of his match in his personal wrestling blog: A Dance in Grapples - Sable (LWS).
We then gave Sable a chance to rest by teaming her up with VeVe in a bondage wrestling match against Hanz.
Sable had never tried a formal bondage wrestling match before, though she did have experience in tying people up. And so, the ladies teamed up to give Sable some trial-by-fire experience...
I'll talk more about this soon in the Bondage Wrestling Blog, but let's just say that neither Hanz nor I really expected just how crazy VeVe and Sable would go with their rope work... and their "and then some." I'll just say that Sable and VeVe surprised us all with their binding speed and then with their escalating meanness once they fully immobilized their prey. Poor Hanz. Sorry, buddy, no one expected they'd be so sadistic. Maybe. *cough* Bondage Nightmare *cough*
A-hem. Moving on.
Next up was the big match of the evening: Sable vs VeVe.
Again, we weren't quite sure what to expect from Sable as a wrestler. Even after watching her match with Hanz, I still wasn't able to form a solid idea of her style. It seemed like everyone who knew Sable was very interested in seeing her match up against VeVe... and after seeing the match myself, I now know why.
Unorthodoxy, risk-taking, athletic, tumultuous, dynamic.
Both of these ladies wrestle with athletic, creative, and dynamic styles, and pitting them against each other produced a very exciting and suspenseful result.
Sable carries the reputation of being LWS's strongest wrestler, with a strong background in modern and classical dance, as well as contact improvisation. She's incredibly leggy, meaning that she uses her legs quite extensively while wrestling, though she doesn't use a classic jiujitsu closed guard. And her legs are impressive.
VeVe found it incredibly exhausting dealing with Sable's legs. Passing the legs, avoiding them, all a tremendous challenge. Sable would frequently use her legs to push VeVe away, which VeVe reports was quite draining.
And Sable's movement style was indeed impressive! She's very fluid and natural on the mats, and she is quite good at staying attached to her opponent. She reports this is from her work in contact improv. Sable wrestles smartly and creatively, and this forced VeVe to devise new, untested tactics on the spot. All while fending off those legs.
Two very competitive scrappers going at it. A scramble, and tangle of limbs, and emergent dominant position... only then to be escaped, and into another scramble and tangle. Submissions on both sides, risk-taking, fearlessness, and driving through mounting exhaustion.
Needless to say, I was impressed!
In the interest of space-consumption, let me fast-track this. I'll talk about my Sunday filming with Honey in a different thread, but continuing with Sable...
Monday for the Syndicate
On Monday, I filmed an entirely different sort of video with Sable. Thrash joined us at the studio to revise his role as a long-suffering prisoner of the ladies in black. With VeVe on board as director, Sable took up the mantle of agent of the Lethal Leotards Syndicate.
We hadn't filmed a Lethal Leotards episode in some time, so I was very pleased to touch on this series again. Even before meeting her, VeVe selected Sable as the next Syndicate agent because, VeVe says, Sable "seemed very leggy." Well, good instinct, VeVe!
Sable showed her diversity as a performer by delivering a splendid display of genteel casual cruelty. She mentioned that most people she knows cannot imagine her doing domination because she smiles so much in daily life, but they need not imagine it at all; we've got it right here on film. Really, I think it's great if you smile pleasantly on the one hand and then proceed with callous humiliation on the other. Or, rather, if you smile brightly outside in public but then smile sadistically at your prey behind closed doors... I think that's a great phenomenon.
But anyway, this is a good topic to expand upon in another entry. I've actually considered making a Lethal Leotards blog, but... ok.. tangent, fix it.
Sable gave an impressive performance, and Thrash as surprised to hear that this was her first domination style video. Frankly, I think she should do more filming as her disciplinarian dance mistress domination persona. I'd be pleased to film another episode with her in the future.
Closing Remarks
Since this entry has gotten very long, and to keep the topic tight, I am going to conclude.
I was impressed by Sable in many ways, actually, throughout my various shoots with her. She's elegant, eloquent, professional and punctual, artistic and modest, sincere, great at taking and interpreting directions, athletic, dynamic, and a pleasure to work with.
She jumped in for a variety of different video projects, from mixed competitive, to mean bondage double teaming, to tangle-scrappy female competitive, to arm wrestling, and to elegant domination. I'd definitely work with her again, and I hope she will consider a return trip in the future.
(London invasion vanguard discussion to be continued. Next entry: Honey's filming on Sunday)
The vanguard here was composed of Honey and Sable, both from the London Wrestling Studio (LWS). And the fabulous Indra served as liaison and facilitator, having originally come from LWS herself before setting up long-term camp here in NYC.
Honey I knew as the lady who runs LWS, and I had heard of her before from Indra and other British colleagues, but I hadn't heard much about Sable prior to her visit. I knew that VeVe was excited for her match against Sable, though VeVe herself wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Hanz was definitely excited for his match with Sable. VeVe was eager to get her ropes into the Brits' hands and around their bodies. And above all, Indra was very excited for all of us to meet each other.
So! We got ourselves all booked at the studio for filming on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and the meet-up / marathon filming weekend began!
Saturday: Competitive Wrestling with Sable and some Ropes
VeVe, Hanz, Sable, and I arrived at the studio early on Saturday evening for the first 3 videos on the slate. We were trying to allow time for Honey to arrive to see VeVe vs Sable, so we scheduled that match for last in the line-up. And so, we opened the evening of filming with a mixed competitive match between Sable and Hanz.
Hanz has that match up now in his studio called "Hanz Vanderkill's Mixed Battle Theatre." He also wrote a full account of his match in his personal wrestling blog: A Dance in Grapples - Sable (LWS).
We then gave Sable a chance to rest by teaming her up with VeVe in a bondage wrestling match against Hanz.
Sable had never tried a formal bondage wrestling match before, though she did have experience in tying people up. And so, the ladies teamed up to give Sable some trial-by-fire experience...
I'll talk more about this soon in the Bondage Wrestling Blog, but let's just say that neither Hanz nor I really expected just how crazy VeVe and Sable would go with their rope work... and their "and then some." I'll just say that Sable and VeVe surprised us all with their binding speed and then with their escalating meanness once they fully immobilized their prey. Poor Hanz. Sorry, buddy, no one expected they'd be so sadistic. Maybe. *cough* Bondage Nightmare *cough*
A-hem. Moving on.
Next up was the big match of the evening: Sable vs VeVe.
Again, we weren't quite sure what to expect from Sable as a wrestler. Even after watching her match with Hanz, I still wasn't able to form a solid idea of her style. It seemed like everyone who knew Sable was very interested in seeing her match up against VeVe... and after seeing the match myself, I now know why.
Unorthodoxy, risk-taking, athletic, tumultuous, dynamic.
Both of these ladies wrestle with athletic, creative, and dynamic styles, and pitting them against each other produced a very exciting and suspenseful result.
VeVe found it incredibly exhausting dealing with Sable's legs. Passing the legs, avoiding them, all a tremendous challenge. Sable would frequently use her legs to push VeVe away, which VeVe reports was quite draining.
Needless to say, I was impressed!
In the interest of space-consumption, let me fast-track this. I'll talk about my Sunday filming with Honey in a different thread, but continuing with Sable...
Monday for the Syndicate
On Monday, I filmed an entirely different sort of video with Sable. Thrash joined us at the studio to revise his role as a long-suffering prisoner of the ladies in black. With VeVe on board as director, Sable took up the mantle of agent of the Lethal Leotards Syndicate.
Sable showed her diversity as a performer by delivering a splendid display of genteel casual cruelty. She mentioned that most people she knows cannot imagine her doing domination because she smiles so much in daily life, but they need not imagine it at all; we've got it right here on film. Really, I think it's great if you smile pleasantly on the one hand and then proceed with callous humiliation on the other. Or, rather, if you smile brightly outside in public but then smile sadistically at your prey behind closed doors... I think that's a great phenomenon.
Sable gave an impressive performance, and Thrash as surprised to hear that this was her first domination style video. Frankly, I think she should do more filming as her disciplinarian dance mistress domination persona. I'd be pleased to film another episode with her in the future.
Closing Remarks
Since this entry has gotten very long, and to keep the topic tight, I am going to conclude.
She jumped in for a variety of different video projects, from mixed competitive, to mean bondage double teaming, to tangle-scrappy female competitive, to arm wrestling, and to elegant domination. I'd definitely work with her again, and I hope she will consider a return trip in the future.
(London invasion vanguard discussion to be continued. Next entry: Honey's filming on Sunday)
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| VeVe, Sable, Honey, and Indra after Saturday's filming |
