Denver

The Denver scene

Studio Friction, which calls itself Denver’s home for rope and aerial art, was founded by three members of the local community and, according to the Rope in the Rockies site, has been open since 2017. It calls itself rope-centered and says it wants to work where rope and aerial art meet and to help shape the future of kinbaku. How Denver fits the wider story of American rope, from early conventions to member-run studios, is told in Kinbaku in North America.

A studio run by its members

Legally, the studio is a nonprofit social club under section 501(c)(7) of the US tax code. A board elected by the community and several volunteer committees run it, and membership dues and entry fees are put back into the space. It describes itself as sex-positive, non-normative and welcoming, states a commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and publishes an incident-reporting page.

Its teaching follows graded series, Beginner 1, Beginner 2 and Intermediate 1, and tuition grants are available for those levels. The studio’s calendar shows how much of the scene happens there each month:

• every Wednesday, a members-only open rope lab for practice;
• on the first Saturday, open practice with a one-hour lesson for people who have never touched rope;
• on the third Saturday, a community potluck followed by tying;
• a rope bottom roundtable built around the experience of the person being tied (see Both sides of the rope);
• a peer-led practicum and study hall for all levels, and a monthly consent education series;
• The Knotty Show, billed as part stand-up comedy and part rope demonstration.

Affinity nights are part of the program. Fab Lab is an affinity space for learning and practice for people under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella, and the Black Fem Kink Collective holds a monthly Black-exclusive, queer-centered social evening at the studio.

Rope in the Rockies

The studio is also the venue for Rope in the Rockies, which the 2026 listing presents as a three-day retreat at the studio combining classes, one-to-one lessons, parties and social time. The 2026 edition ran from 2 to 4 October and was fully booked; the organizers announced that they were bringing the event back for that year and would split the main room and add a tent to make space for more suspension workshops. Its presenters came from Memphis, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis, alongside Denver teachers such as BetwixtBlushes and TheDude, Creative Mayhem and pandoradreams.

Beyond the studio

Rope also turns up in more general settings. The Sexploratorium, a sex-education museum in Denver that runs in-person classes, has listed a Shibari Basics workshop for beginners that it describes as clothed and hands-on, an introduction to the artistry of Japanese rope along with its technique and safety. For a first class anywhere, What happens at a first shibari class explains what to expect. The studio’s, the retreat’s and the museum’s websites are in English.