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Trying to write a recap on Suscon is so hard for me, I know that no matter how much I say it just won’t capture everything that happened that weekend. There were so many great moments, and each day had its share of tears and smiles for all of us. In order to keep this from being a novel, and to give myself time to recover and find the right words to say, I am going to break this down into a couple separate posts, including a few on some of the individual suspensions that weekend. If there is something that you don’t see here, it’s probably going to be up very soon. So let’s get going.

Suscon kicked off Friday with everyone making their way to the venue to get settled in for a weekend that involved around 180 suspension practitioners and trainees from 11 countries facilitating over 98 suspensions. Every time another team arrived a new round of greetings, hugs, and smiles went around the room. Classes began for the day, and as the first suspensions were set up the weekend was set in motion.

That night wrapped up with the Freaks and Fetish party at the Church where Havve Fjell, the Headmaster of Pain started off the night, along with appearing between sets to keep things moving and entertain the crowd. Also appearing on stage that night was the beautiful Mosh, a fashion show featuring the brilliant work of Genne Laakso, and the very talented Swing Shift Sideshow. Rumor has it some girl with a mohawk suspended that night as well, but I must have been busy as I missed that part of the show.

Photo by the Naked Lens

Saturday began with orientation, and we took the time to remember our friends who couldn’t be with us that weekend. Shortly after, the suspensions were kicked off by the beautiful Samar who was put in the air by the Wings of Desire team. Every photo I have seen of her suspending absolutely captures all of the beauty that comes with this art, and in person was no different. Her smile was radiant, and it really set the mood for the rest of the day. As her suspension came to an end the room filled with people hard at work getting things in motion and working side by side with friends both new and old. There were some amazing suspensions that day, including a transitional suspension organized by Orb of Disgraceland which featured Terry Kruger moving through 5 positions. He managed to remain calm, and looked at ease from beginning to end of what had to be an intense experience for him.

Another highlight of the day was Neil‘s touching tribute to Spliff. He started with an energy pull outside with lines leading from various hooks in his body to several women who were pulling from their throats. As that concluded the crowd moved inside where he transitioned between 5 very difficult single point suspensions. It was breathtaking to watch, and I think everyone in the room was aware of how important this moment was, both to him and many of the other individuals in the room. As he came down from his final position, I wanted nothing more than to give him a huge hug knowing what he had just endured both physically and mentally and that the strength for that had come from the love he has for Spliff.

Photo by the Naked Lens

Sunday was a blur of excitement as everyone tried to get in to be suspended before the day was over. One of the major suspensions that day was a three person tandem involving members of Aztlan Arts. Tricia, Raul, and Brandon were raised in the air as the crowd watched them peacefully sway in the breeze with Tricia at the top, looking focused and determined to overcome this challenging suspension. She pulled it off beautifully, both during the suspension and the long process of going up and coming back down.

There were so many great moments that day; an 8 person mobile, a sampling of some weird and tasty frog fondue, spinning beams, Andrew’s unforgettable face suspension, and so much more that made it an indescribable weekend. There were more great photos than I could have possibly put on here, so feel free to browse through them on the gallery I have set up. I will be adding photos as they come in, so check back often for updates. And just so no one is wondering, I am going to go much more in depth on some of these suspensions. There just was no way to cover it all at one time.

I have said before that I can’t put that weekend into words; how do you explain the feeling of so many people in one place that love each other and this beautiful art we share so much? I will say that personally I have never felt more at home or more myself than that weekend surrounded by the amazing people that make up our community. There were tears as I said my goodbyes, knowing that I would be counting down each day until it’s here again. I do want to thank everyone that attended Suscon. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this community and to be surrounded by such genuinely good people. Thank you all for bringing so much into my life, and allowing me to be a part of yours.

If you have photos from Suscon, please send them to Southtownbaby@suspension.org to be added to the gallery.