Art & Performance
Art and Performance Offerings
Lee Harrington’s work as an artist has appeared in a wide variety of contexts, from his photography and his book “Shed Skins: Journeying in Self Portraits,” to stage shows in Berlin, Sydney, London, New York, San Francisco and beyond. The following are his classes or specific offerings related towards performance, art and becoming an artist, speaker or performer. To learn more about his work as a performance and visual artist (from fire to rope, burlesque to poetry and beyond, including his ritual performance pieces such as “Blind Trust,” “Caught Up In Our Own Wor(L)ds,” and “I Choose Life”), please visit his artist informational page.
Performance Based/Storytelling Classes
Creature on a Quest
Storytelling Performance
“For I stand before you, a creature on a quest… for within each question there it stands, this word, quest.” Thus begins Lee Harrington’s one man show, which begins as an academic lecturer, travels backwards and forwards through men’s leather culture, sex work, happy heterosexual marriage as a woman, to being a genderqueer teen and gender unsuspecting child, and ends with audiences pondering the nature of gender, happiness, and relationships. Quest with Lee as he opens up his soul, his heart, his body, and his tales, walking at your side into the center of love. This show contains non-explicit nudity and adult themes and is rated R.
From Tits to Tats: Traversing Sex Politics in the First Person
Lecture/Storytelling Class
Never your average boy next door, Lee Harrington was born Bridgett Louise Ashlee Jauregui Harrington- a clever girl who won awards for academic work and eventually ended up working simultaneously as an adult film actor and a database administrator for a Christian faith organization. In this first person tale of coming to grips with gender as a cosmopolitan human, Lee will share his tale of moving through being a girl, being a boy, being forced by the therapeutic institution back into being a girl, going into sex work to try to learn to love his body, a happy marriage as a two-spirited human, hardcore porn, spiritual adventures, near death experiences, and eventually to an identity as a femme man in America. Join Lee as he journeys, backwards, forwards, and eventually works towards the hard questions- what is gender, what is identity, and how do we look at ourselves in the mirror.
How Much an Hour: My Journey through Sex Work in America and Beyond
Lecture/Storytelling Class – alternate title: “Sex, Cash and Candy: A Journey Through Sex Work in America and Beyond”
Learn first hand what the wide variety of sex work in America looks like straight from the man (and woman) living it. Lee’s tale takes you from the life of a fetish model and adult film actress, to that of a male pornographer and conceptual erotic artist. You will journey from being an escort, to hiring them. Explore the adventure of being a high priced Dominatrix, then learn to find erotic employment as a transgendered male while navigating the life of a full time sexuality educator. Having had his first exposure to street sex work at the age of 14, to lecturing internationally on erotic authenticity, he has been part of or held hands with most sides of the sex industry- and through his eyes, so can you.
What’s Leather Got to Do With It? Leather Fetish, Sex and Soul
Spoken Word Participatory Lecture
The world of BDSM often speaks of Leather as an identity, or as shorthand for our passions, but what about leather itself? The hides of animals, our second skins, this material that once lived and breathed has inspired erotic explorers for generations… why? From tools of pain and pleasure to the wide varieties of clothing that wrap around our form and conform to our shape with time- we will examine our tough exteriors to find how leather fetish has inspired leather sex, and in turn, leather soul, identity and spirit… and the term “Leather Community” itself. Bring at least one piece of leather with you- be it a piece of your earned leathers if you come from that tradition, your favorite flogger, a tight pair of gloves, your favorite boots, your old friend of a belt, or something else to inspire yourself or others as part of this conversation towards understanding leather as more than a raw material.
How to do Art/Performance/Speaking
Binding Intentions: The Art of Fiber Magic
Lecture/Storytelling Class
Fiber art magic has been a part of sacred mysteries for ages, the Fates measuring our lives, weaving them into the tapestry of life, and then cutting our cords when our time has run out. We will dive into the applications of rope magic, from intention setting to connection building, blessings and curses, weaving lives together and relaying the strands of our own lives into the patterns we desire. From classic Wiccan spells of eight knots to dream catchers, erotic bondage as a connection tool or ordeal, binding energy into our relationships, laying physical cord as a route to laying silver cords in the astral realms, and creating “haunted” rope, rope magic comes in a thousand forms and we’ll touch on as many as we can. Also addressed will be concepts of ethics in energy work, the conflicts of formal fiber traditions with modern minds, and even weave our senses into modern applications of fiber magic.
Effective Speaking Skills
Participatory Lecture
Have you always wanted to speak in front of a crowd but are too jittery? Perhaps you are an experienced speaker or educator who wants their lectures and presentations to stand out and be remembered? Come learn how to effectively use your voice and body language to communicate your message in a wide variety of teaching and speaking environments. From claiming of space to audience empathy, use of vocal range to hiding your nervousness, we will plunge in together and come out more certain of our ability to deliver our message.
Erotic Macramé: Creative Decorative Bondage
Hands On
Imagine the human body as your canvas, and rope as your paints… let’s create art! From body harnesses to creative chest harnesses, rope corsets to beautifully applied crotch ropes and rump bindings, we’ll look into some ways to turn yourself or your partner into a sight to be seen. We will also look at ways to accent and add decorative details to other forms of rope bondage. Bring at least 2 pieces of rope, 25+ft in length, for hands on exploration, though limited supplies will be available to borrow from the instructor.
Finding Your Unique Voice as an Educator
Participatory Lecture
What sort of presenting really calls to you, and why? Do you want to lead group discussions, lecture in front of an auditorium, provide one-on-one mentorship, or give skill demonstrations? What sorts of topics are you called to present on? Physical skills, emotional experiences, the psychology of what it is that we do, history and academics, or perhaps something totally different? Many of us start out presenting because we are well known for something we do and others want to learn, or because no one else would step up on a topic- but what do *you* want to teach on? Let’s look at what styles and content truly call to you, and also examine options for both you might not of thought of that may be your calling waiting for you.
Plus see all of the work in the Ropes & Restraint Offerings for learning how to do the practical work of binding and rope manipulation.