Brussels

The Brussels scene

A-Nicolas, who for years performed as Nicolas Yoroï, writes that he lived in Japan for four years, devoting himself to rope, aikido and Japanese culture under Arisue Gō; his timeline places those studies between 2005 and 2010. He gave his first performance in Tokyo in 2008 and, back in Europe, developed his own way of tying under the name Yoroi-ryū. His timeline lists international workshops and performances from 2013, public events such as jams, guest presenters and performances from 2014, and the opening of a dojo in Brussels in 2015; in 2024 he opened what he counts as his fifth dojo in the city. Among his other teachers he names Hajime Kinoko, Otonawa, Kazami Ranki and Felix Ruckert.

The dojo in Anderlecht

The Boring Dojo, in Anderlecht, bases its teaching on Japanese bondage while borrowing from martial arts, dance, massage, performance art, power exchange and medical knowledge. Its season is built around monthly training weekends, with an evening of “tying deeper”, a day of floorwork and a day of suspension, plus five-day intensives, weekend introductions and workshops by visiting presenters. A Thursday rope jam runs from September to June, with breaks in winter and during the two weeks of the EURIX exchange described on the Berlin page. The jam is free of alcohol and drugs, welcomes people who come alone or only want to watch, bans photos and recordings while encouraging drawing and writing, and excludes sexual contact and genital play. The dojo publishes its pages in English and French.

A queer program and the stage

At L’Alternée, the intimacy program of the Brussels Art & Pole studio, most workshops are led by Juliette, who has practiced shibari since 2016, first as a model and later as a rigger, together with her partner model. The program calls its shibari queer and ethical: participants are meant to switch roles, and it sets out to break with the old image of a dominant male rigger tying a younger, submissive female model. Beginners start with a three-class cycle on floor tying, followed by two further levels and themed workshops, all presented in French.

Rope has also reached Brussels’ opera stage. According to the City of Women festival archive, the Berlin choreographer Dasniya Sommer staged rope for Romeo Castellucci’s production of Parsifal at La Monnaie, part of the dance and theater strand told in Kinbaku in Europe.

Film and the wider region

On 2 July 2026 the International Shibari Film Festival held its first edition, an evening at Cinema Aventure in Brussels screening an international selection of films that engage with consent, respect and representation. It is organized by the Belgian nonprofit Atelier Mae, describes itself as the first cultural event in Europe devoted to shibari through cinema, and opened Graines de Cordes III, a four-day rope event in Namur. Outside the Brussels-Capital Region, Corneum in Lennik, founded by Franck Stunn, teaches semenawa, hashira and tantra-oriented rope, with a website in Dutch.

What the city offers now

A newcomer can start with a weekend introduction at the dojo, a beginner cycle at L’Alternée or simply by watching at a Thursday jam, with teaching in French and English in the city and in Dutch just outside it. For what to expect at a first session, see What happens at a first shibari class.