A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Dawn Rises

I toyed with the idea of putting some soothing music over this video of the lovely Dawn (I did lower the volume several decibels though, because I value your hearing) but I thought it would give you an idea of the noise, lights and general chaos suspendees “endure” in a nightclub setting..

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DivX download link for BME members: Extreme2 or Full members

Now, click here (or the majority of suspension videos on ModBlog for that matter), contrast and compare!

Location – Murfreesboro, Tennesee.

Comments

19 responses to “Dawn Rises”

  1. sana Avatar
    sana

    that looks intense and frightening! i don’t think i’d be able to handle that…
    she doesn’t look all that happy about the whole thing, either.

  2. RooRaaah Crumbs Avatar

    sana – She does give two thumbs up and flash a smile or three, it may just be post-suspension giddiness or dry ice on the brain 🙂

  3. Rob Avatar

    is it just me, or was the person detaching her from the rigging not wearing any gloves?

  4. Jake Avatar
    Jake

    Love the Aphex twin in the background…soothing tunes

  5. mutumbo Avatar
    mutumbo

    hey! i used to live right near murfreesboro. too bad i dont anymore. . .

  6. Mikey Avatar

    I think sometimes you need to take a step back and ask yourself if your really ready to perform or if your just rushing into the suspension for the cool factor or because you just really want to suspend. Yea she was giving thumbs up but it was not a good show seeing her just go up and not move around looking uncomfortable. It is hard to see the whole picture from that video but I’d say it isnt a good representation of a suspension performance. but what do I know…

  7. RooRaaah Crumbs Avatar

    Mikey – I’ll be linking back to her experience submission once it’s published on BMEzine.com, she had an amazing time I assure you 🙂

  8. Mikey Avatar

    yea I’m not saying she didnt have a good time but as far as performing it wasnt a good show. I think it would have been more appropriate as a private type suspension without the show aspect…but really thats just comparing it to other shows I’ve seen. the bottom line is she had a good time and clearly the crowd liked it so they must have done something right.

  9. Stormchaser Avatar

    Mikey: Why not mixing that up? Why always going to be the extreme show(wo)man?
    I like this small, normal style suspension as kind of little show act quite a lot. Looks nice (and this I could imagine to do myself, but probably with ear protectors on, even good music is terrible, wehn that noisy).

  10. Mikey Avatar

    I also like to showcase suspensions in a simple manner. This one didnt look that they were going for that with the atmosphere and clothing. I just think there should be more to show an audience than just having someone lifted into the air and brought back down.

  11. Stormchaser Avatar

    Yes and no, that was done in an ordinary night club,. with a lot of audience, probably not beeing in the bodymod scene.

    So that is already a lot of stunning show for them, but (and that is nice) not a shocking one. Things like that epxand understanding…
    For people inside the scene she would need to show more (as many are doing that theirselves)

  12. star69 Avatar
    star69

    aphex twin and suspension – lovely combination!!!

  13. bastian Avatar

    Mikey: I have read the story of her suspension (it even was her first one) which she submitted to BME and which will appear in the next experience update (if it’ll be approved, which I don’t doubt). What you see in the video is a bit deceiving. Check your IMs :).

  14. Dawn Avatar
    Dawn

    ‘ey, gimme a break… it was my first one 😛 As for the crowd-wowing factor goes, I wasn’t trying to appear out of the ordinary or extreme, I was just taking my suspension one step at a time, getting adjusted to the sensations, etc. My attentions weren’t set on providing a wonderful “show” for the crowd, I was just focused on the feeling and how it was personally affecting me 🙂 This video wasn’t meant to be a show-stopper; just a memoir of an unforgettable night 🙂

  15. Mikey Avatar

    There is another thing, Any suspension done the first time will be memerable for that person. I dont think that atmosphere is a good one for someone just learning about suspension. Take her to a nice outdoor location and hang her in a big tree, then have her compare her two suspensions. I think most people would chose to hang outside privately than in a club. It just seems like the only reason she was involved in that show was for her own suspension experience and there was no addition to the performance even discussed.

  16. Dawn Avatar
    Dawn

    I wasn’t just learning about suspension; I’d been intent on doing one for at least a year prior to that. Why does it matter what you think as long as everyone that was actually there was positive and had a good time?

  17. Lil Miss Strange Avatar

    i find all the chaos and noise really horrible. i would never want to suspend like that. And if it’s the kind of club where people go to dance and get wasted then also the audience might not have the right kind of apreciation for what she is doing.

  18. Håvve Avatar
    Håvve

    I agree with Mikey. No doubt it was a great experince for those involved and that it had an impact on the crowd. But it’s not a show. It is a demonstration of a suspension at best, and still as such there’s a series of issues that should be (and maybe was?) adressed. To mention a few things; It is impossible to predict somebodys reation to their first suspension, and the setting in this clip is not the right one to handle seizures or loss of counciousness. Communication is essential, more often so with a first timer, again difficult in the nightclub setting. I’m not going to mention rigging and safety issues, nor hygiene and crosscontamination as I don’t know how that was handeled in this case. But I do know that there’s a whole different ballgame dealing with those issues at clubs. Judging from the lack of gloves on the guy de-rigging her, I could only assume that the level of expertise in this case is not satisfactory. Personaly I think it’s important to consider the content and performance if one intends to deliver a show, and by that I don’t mean every suspension show need to be badass, much on the contrary. Given the few facts we know, it is irresposible to put a body suspension on display under the conditions in this video. How do you think the crowd would have reacted if something went wrong? Would they still be open minded towards suspensions if they saw the young girl in seizures on the hooks?

  19. Mikey Avatar

    Dawn: I did say it doesnt matter what we think as long as everyone was happy with it. i didnt mean you were learning about it in that manner.. i meant learning how it feels and how your body will react… If you had a good time thats all that matters. You didnt do anything wrong. I’d say it was an irrisposible decision by the people suspending you. As Haave said the seizures and any other reactions are unpredictable..

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