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One Leg Up
Sex Maniac's Ball
One Leg Up’s
founder, Palagia, calls her events a “sensual movement” and her parties
are broken down into three categories: Side-Dish Soirees are casual
meet and greets open to men, women and couples; Take-Out Soirees are
couples and single women only, with a sexually charged atmosphere but
no explicit play; Eat-In Soirees are the most exclusive, open to
screened members only, and there is on-premise “action.” This “Sex
Maniac’s Ball” was a celebration of the new One Leg Up web site and a
“Take-Out.” It was the first time I didn’t have a conflicting event to
attend and I was very curious to finally see what Palagia was doing.
The last time I’d been to the space it was a somewhat rundown dance
club that appeared to be run by the Russian mob. It is now Movida and
has been redecorated in a glossy Euro-futuro style. You enter on the
street level and go downstairs to an intimate white room with couches
and a small bar. Upstairs there’s a wall of couches, a raised DJ booth,
a larger bar, a fab stripper pole and a mezzanine-ish VIP section. I
got there super early and there were already people streaming in. By
midnight the place was positively packed.
It’s difficult for me to be a guest as opposed to a hostess and even
tougher to just sit and observe. I was a little thrown by being
anonymous and therefore assumed to be there for, well, hooking up. I
definitely don’t participate at my own parties and hadn’t anticipated
doing so this particular evening, so when a woman caressed my arm
somewhat affectionately—and perhaps a bit too familiarly—I must’ve
given her some sort of “whatthefuckareyoudoing?” look, because she
immediately retracted her hand and disappeared into the crowd. I
decided it would be better to watch from a seat, so I parked myself on
the periphery and spectated.
The music was definitely not for me—pounding, pulsing samba or
something along those lines—but the audience seemed to love it,
gyrating against each other on the crowded dance floor. It was an
exceedingly good-looking group, I have to say. And, oddly, I found the
guys even hotter than the girls. Everyone was very well-dressed and
well-groomed and well-behaved. They were also all appallingly, well,
normal. I suppose my judgment of what’s normal is pretty out of whack
at this point. But these folks were so far from the tattooed,
dreadlocked freaks, starving artists and oddball downtown performance
types I hang out with that they blended together in a banker/pr/east
coast university/weekend house in the Hamptons sort of way. Whether
that’s a good thing or a bad thing is totally in the eye of the
prospective hooker-upper, I suppose.
Just as I was despairing about being totally out of touch with
mainstream America—which is a pretty odd situation to be in at a
“kinky” party, if ya think about it—I spotted a couple that piqued my
interest. She has short-short hair and was wearing a lemon yellow
chiffon sleeveless bubble dress with sexy black pumps. He’s shaved bald
with both his ears pierced and was in a white button-down shirt and a
flowing, almost floor-length skirt with a plaid cummerbund. I watched
eagerly as she had a little tête-à-tête with the
go-go girl and then climbed up onto the platform to have a whirl on the
stripper pole. She was obviously a dancer of the modern variety. And
she was very good! I was transfixed. As was her date. When she
finished, the crowd around her applauded and I had to introduce myself.
Should’ve guessed she was a recent transplant from San Francisco! And,
yes, a dancer. They were the closest I came to meeting anyone in “my
tribe.” But everyone else I spoke with was polite, friendly and
thrilled to be there.
Palagia’s parties have a particular vibe because she has what I would
say is the clearest and most strictly adhered to “vision” of any club
or party promoter I’ve ever met. She isn’t just a hostess, she’s
practically an event philosopher, and if you take the time to
completely read her web site, you’ll see what I mean. So everything
that goes into creating the gestalt of her events is, I assume,
extremely deliberate. I also assume that her screening process and that
specific philosophy attract a very particular demographic. It appears
to be an upscale, mid-20s to mid-50s, cocktail party scene for the
sexually adventurous—as opposed to sexually deviant—professional. Plus
there’s a vague Euro tinge. Without digressing too far, I’ll say that
either you’ll fit in and dig it or you won’t.
I waited, rather impatiently, for something to happen. I knew this
wasn’t a full on sex party, but I expected at least a little action. At
a sex club, people walk in and don’t waste much time getting down to
business. This was a much less agressive situation. And though some
couples started making out almost as soon as they sat down, things
never got too outta hand. Or too in hand. Heh-heh. Eventually people
became a bit bolder, as women in skirts hiked them up a bit and their
dates hands explored beneath them. Courageous ladies traded their bras
for pasties. Of course, there was a VIP lounge overlooking the main
dance floor, where you had to buy a bottle of booze to be admitted.
It’s possible that people were being more risqué up there; I
don’t know. But basically the interaction on the dance floor consisted
of what I can’t help but call “dirty dancing.” Lots of people lined up,
one behind another, rubbing and grinding and groping. The temperature
definitely went up, but the thermometer never quite, um, burst.
I finally left just after 2am. As I made my way to the door, I was
intercepted by one admirer who wanted a goodnight kiss. He slid his
minty tongue into my mouth before I had a chance to refuse him. And
another handsome young man insisted upon giving my breasts a quick
farewell licking. So bottom line? I’d absolutely go back, perhaps with
a clearer intention to enjoy myself and leave my critical journalistic
“eye” at home. I’d also bring a girlfriend; my friends there were all
couples, which made me feel vaguely “third wheel.” I think I’d also
have a few more drinks. And I’d definitely have a good time!
[Written July 2005]
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