
Sensual Storytelling Soirée
The following description was submitted by the event organizer.
A Valentine's event designed for sensual sapiosexuals who love a good story. Curl up with a friend or lover (or come alone and find a cozy spot to hang from an aerial pod) and allow yourself to be transported. Join sex-positive theater maker Eleanor O’Brien of Dance Naked Creative and somatic storyspinner Aaron Wheeler Kay of Echo Theater for an evening of relaxed arousal.
In 2018, O’Brien started an open-mic night for erotic content called Stand Up Smut. The event featured storytelling, poetry, and erotica. Portlanders loved the concept, and every month, the venue was packed, and people snuggled up next to friends and strangers.
One storyteller stood out above the rest. The mysterious Ange LeLange. They showed up sporadically but always with a new story, pieces of erotica unlike any we’d ever heard, full of magic and provocation. The writer took pains to build other worlds with complex sexualities that incorporated expansive possibilities — sex without gravity, shapeshifters finding each other through wild twists of form, and the erotic nature of living water. They would read their stories out loud, with years of theatrical training evident in their delivery. The audience loved them. They would close their eyes and enter into the world that had been created. LeLange, encouraged by the enthusiasm of their audience, kept writing. They created a collection of stories and secured a grant from RACC to turn the stories into a podcast.
The podcast debuts LIVE at Echo Theater on Valentine’s Day, with these rich and potent stories read aloud by O’Brien and Wheeler-Kay.
The theater will be transformed into a cuddle space, with hanging aerial cocoons and soft pillow nests. Low lighting and live music will invite participants to settle in and relax. Audience members may choose to be blindfolded while they listen, and for those who indicate consent, trained touch tenders will offer soothing touch for hands and feet.