📅 Friday September 25 – Sunday September 27, 2026 Friday 19:00–22:00 · Saturday 10:00–22:00 · Sunday 10:00–15:00

📍 House of Play (HOP), Shetlandsgade 3, 1st floor – 2300 Copenhagen

💰 Early Bird: 2800 DKK per person (until June 1 or first 15 tickets sold) Normal Bird: 3200 DKK per person (Food and accommodation not included)

About this event

Shame runs deeper than desire. Deeper than power. It's the quiet voice that says you're too much — or not enough. The one that edits you before you even speak.

This is the third instalment in our annual collaboration with Andy Buru — following Power (2024) and Desire (2025). Both sold out. This time, we go where most of us would rather not look.

Hosted by Anders Lorentz & Kate Aura, Copenhagen Tantra Festival.

What is this?

A weekend of embodied exploration into shame — not as something to fix or overcome, but as a doorway. Into honesty. Into intimacy. Into being seen without your armour on.

Shame governs us more than laws do. Laws require external enforcement. Shame is self-regulating — it lives inside, shaping what we say, what we show, and what we hide. Most of the time, we are our own harshest judges. We deem ourselves unlovable — and then we hide the verdict.

But what happens when we stop hiding?

Through ritual, witnessing, conscious kink, and group exercises, Andy Buru guides you into the tender, paradoxical territory where shame meets beauty, vulnerability meets arousal, and humiliation meets devotion.

This weekend you'll work individually, in pairs, in trios, and in the full group. You'll explore what happens when the masks we wear — competence, beauty, control — are gently set aside or lovingly torn off.

In Andy's words:

Playing with shame is paradoxical because we consciously and consensually invite another into something very private. Grace is required, as shame is a fleeting feeling. Too much force only results in denial, blame, and justification. Too little, and we joke away an uncomfortable situation. Shame is like drooling — it requires trust and relaxation. It's closer to crying: letting down, letting go, and letting someone in.

This is not therapy. But it may touch your soul. This is not performance. But it may feel like art.

The journey

Shame and sexuality are old companions. Many of us carry shame about our desires — for being too much, too wild, too restrained, too strange. The madonna and the whore. The good boy and the beast. These internal judgements keep us small.

Andy's work brings tools from Japanese rope bondage, theatre, esoteric eroticism, and witnessing practices. By shaping and presenting the body, he touches the mind and soul. Physically challenging moments may serve to wear down the protective walls that we so desperately try to lower on our own.

In Andy's words:

The journey is emotionally masochistic. Just as in physical masochism, shame raises arousal — blood rushing to reddening cheeks — and therefore marries well with esoteric eroticism. Exposing the face that wears the dual crown of beauty and intellect — how we present ourselves to the world, in language and gesture. Expect clamped tongues, devious seductive words, drips of drool, messy faces, and crucified bodies. But most of all — expect to be seen in your shame, your vulnerability, and your beauty.

Who is this for?

This workshop is for anyone willing to meet themselves honestly — and be witnessed in the process.

All genders, orientations, and bodies are welcome. You can come alone or with a partner. No prior experience with rope, kink, or bodywork is required.

You decide how deep you go. Every exercise is an invitation, never a demand. If you attend with a partner and want to stay together throughout, that's welcome.

This is for you if:

• You sense that something in you wants to be seen — even the parts you usually hide
• You're curious about what lives beneath your social mask
• You want to explore vulnerability as strength, not weakness
• You've attended Power or Desire and want to continue the journey — or this is your first time and you feel the pull

This may not be for you if:

• You're looking for a party or purely social event
• You're not ready to be in a space where things get emotionally and physically intimate
• You need clearly defined outcomes before you begin

What you take home

We won't promise transformation — that's not ours to guarantee. But past participants of Andy's workshops tend to leave with:

• A different relationship with the parts of yourself you've been hiding
• An experience of being truly seen — without judgement, without performance
• More honesty about what you want, what you fear, and what you're ashamed of
• A body that has been held, challenged, and softened
• The quiet knowledge that you are more lovable than your limiting beliefs would have you think

About Andy Buru

Andy Buru is a Swedish artist and teacher working at the intersection of Japanese rope bondage, theatre, esoteric eroticism, and neuro-somatic therapy. He creates spaces where taboo meets tenderness — and where the complicated, contradictory, messy parts of being human are welcomed with elegance and care.

He is the author of Rituals and Paradoxes and facilitates retreats and workshops across Europe. This is his third year in Copenhagen.

"If tight ropes and contorted body postures express physical masochism, then shame is the core of the emotional counterpart. Beauty, competence and elegance are all masks we wear to fit in. What if they are dropped — or lovingly torn off — to expose that raw, unfiltered you?" — Andy Buru

Hosted by

Anders Lorentz & Kate Aura — founders of Copenhagen Tantra Festival. This is the third year we host Andy in Copenhagen, and there's a reason we keep inviting him back: his work is unlike anything else we've encountered. Raw, precise, and deeply human.

Practical info

This is an urban retreat — no accommodation or meals are provided. Copenhagen has plenty of options nearby.

Schedule:

• Friday Sep 25 · 19:00–22:00
• Saturday Sep 26 · 10:00–22:00
• Sunday Sep 27 · 10:00–15:00

Location: House of Play (HOP), Shetlandsgade 3, 1st floor – 2300 Copenhagen

Language: English

Tickets: Non-refundable, but can be resold. Inform us of name changes at contact@cphtantrafestival.dk.

Get your ticket

Early Bird: 2800 DKK per person — until June 1 or first 15 tickets sold Normal Bird: 3200 DKK per person

Andy's Copenhagen workshops have sold out two years running. If this speaks to you, don't wait.