Near the End of the Last Millennium, in the Emerald City, magical
beings came together and created a something unique and delightful, healing
and transformative.
The ROMP, a nude dance party for men, was originally
the idea of Steve Wells who created the Crossroads Learning Center, a
non-profit forum for the free exchange of ideas and practices for transformation
and healing. As with so many other wonderful events, the ROMP was a culmination
of space, timing, and response to a need. Crossroads provided the space
and the time had come for a deeper men's healing experience.
Thinking back on experiences from erotic massage
workshops for men with the Body Electric School, Steve remembered a time
when the participants danced naked through the halls of the Center. Recalling
the intense joy and freedom this inspired, the idea was born to create
nude dance parties for men, which came to be called "Naked Men Dancing".
The intent was to generate a setting for a Healing
Experience. One where men of all body sizes, shapes,colors and ages could
come together in an erotically charged atmosphere, yet without the pressure
of sexual interaction. This would be an event in which men could let down
their guard through being naked and dancing together; letting the music
and eroticism move them to free inhibitions, overcome body image issues
and experience the joy of naked connectedness. The theme that this was
"NOT a Sex Party, and definitely a Sexy Party" was established
from the beginning.
The concept was to provide a safe space where the
energy of sexuality could be transmuted through the interaction with music
and dance into spiritual awakening and healing. To provide sacred and
safe space, opening and closing rituals were performed originally by Steve
and then by local two-spirit medicine person ThunderCloud. This provided
the stated intent and energetic container for sacred healing to occur.
To create these events Steve called upon his friend
Moonsong. By working together with many other community members they put
together the first Naked Men Dancing as a First Harvest Celebration for
Lughnasadh on August 6, 1994, where they exhorted the dancers to "Sacrifice
Your Clothes!".
Given the success of this event, a second was created
for Samhain (Halloween) and called, "Who Was that Masked Man?".
This "Un/costume Ball" hosted over 170 men un/wearing amazingly
creative un/dress and included fabulous light fare and a live DJ to spin
some great world dance music. The next was for Imbolc, on Feb. 2, "The
Sap is Rising". A fourth event happened at Beltane (May Day evening)
"Bring Your Own Maypoles", and the final event on Gay Pride/Solstice
weekend, 1995 was called "Pride and Joysticks".
After a short hiatus of several months, Jay Hogan
stepped in with Todd Hildebrandt, Dean Cook, Jeff Danese, Bonner and others.
Undertaking the responsibilities from Steve and Moonsong, they moved forward
with Naked Men Dancing, changing the name to Romp Naked. These events
continued to be held at the Crossroads Learning Center until 1997.
After Crossroads closed in 1997 the ROMP moved to
Jeff Hengst's artist studio where you one will find many erotic male paintings
on the walls. Jeff does a variety of artwork including many gender combinations
and is a well established artist. Part of the inspiration for the erotic
male line of his work was from attending some of the original Naked Men
Dancing events. Jeff was thrilled to have the ROMP occur at his studio
and be a continuing source of inspiration for his work.
Since the beginning, there were many calls of concern
over the dances. These included calls from men who either couldn't imagine
being naked together in larger groups or who had fear of exposing their
bodies due to shame, image issues, and the like; to those who couldn't
imagine being together naked and not having sex.
Rewardingly, many of these same men called after
the event to express the difference the ROMP has made in their lives;
how being naked and dancing in a room full of other men of all shades,
ages and sizes gave them the opportunity to allow the shame, sexuality
or body concerns to just be and eventually disappear for the evening.
Ironically, once at the ROMP folks often find it's actually uncomfortable
to be wearing clothes when everyone else is naked. Many have declared
the ROMP as one of the most profound experiences of their lives and have
returned again and again to help create the event, and some have even
found lasting relationships at these events.
Then of course there are calls from women who desire
to come and watch, or those who think perhaps it's an interesting "floor
show". Obviously, not everyone understands the true nature of these
happenings. And, in fact, until you've been to one it may be difficult
to imagine just how profound it can be. The power to heal we have the
capacity generate when we come together can be tremendous!.
The Romp Naked continues as a Sacred Rite. The location
may vary, the men who attend may vary, the organizers of the event may
vary; and yet, the Healing Magic of Transformation continues. Each man
who attends has his own unique experience. What will be yours?

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