CLEO DUBOIS - BACKGROUND

Over the past 30 years, I have gained national and international recognition as a BDSM educator, ritualist, personal trainer in the kinky arts and educational video maker.

ACADEMY OF SM ARTS

In 1995, I founded the Academy of SM Arts in order to educate adults in the kinky arts. In 2001, my friend, Sybil Holiday and I launched the Academy's first Erotic Dominance Intensives.  Based on the awareness and refinement of erotic energy exchange, these intimate workshops focus on personal empowerment and play skills while maintaining the overall theme of dominance and relationship. To learn more about these weekend intensives, which I now teach with the assistance of Eve Minax and Selina Raven, please visi the Academy website.

LECTURER

I have presented lectures and workshops on such topics as "The Nature of Consensual BDSM," "Archetypes and Erotic Personae,""Skills and Energy in Consensual Power Exchanges,"and "Radical Touch" at the following institutions:

• Good Vibrations (2008–2011)
• OneTaste http://www.onetaste.us/ (2007-2008)
  
• ConnectdED (2007)
• Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco (2006)
  
• Toynbee Studio, London, UK (2007}
  
• Kaiser Permanente Department of Psychiatry, San Francisco (2003)
  
• Learning Annex, San Francisco (2000)
• San Francisco State University (2000)

CONFERENCES / SOCIETY LECTURES

I am a regularly invited presenter and workshop facilitator at numerous San Francisco Bay Area and National BDSM conferences and society meetings. Subjects include Psychology and BDSM, Ethics and Archetypes, Playing with Power and Informed Consent For Dominants, Submissives and Switches. Safe BDSM Play, Negotiation Skills and Scene Dynamics,  Healing and Self- Empowerment through  Dominance/Submission and SM Play,  Energy and Body Rituals, and the History of San Francisco Leatherfolk. Recent/current venues include:

• SM Odyssey- Folsom fringe, San Jose
• Leather Men Discussion Group, San Francisco
• Thunder in the Mountains, Denver
• Kinkfest, Portland
• IMSL Conference, San Francisco
• San Francisco Citadel
• Center for Sex and Culture, San Francisco
• LeatherQuest, San Francisco
• The Floating World, New Jersey
• Kinky Kollege,Chicago
• The Exiles – San Francisco Women in Kink Educational Organization
• Society of Janus, San Francisco

PUBLICATIONS

• Bells, Balls, Hooks and Fists in "Spirit 0f Desire," edited by Lee Harrington (2011)
• Cleo Dubois in "Reclaiming Eros," by Suzanne Blackburn and Margaret Wade (2009)
• Journeys to Dark Eros in "Sex Tips and Tales from Women Who Dare: Exploring the Exotic Erotic" by Jo-Anne Baker (2001)
• Interview by Carol Queen in "Bitch Goddess: The Spiritual Path of the Dominant Woman," edited by Pat Califia and Drew Campbell (1998)
  
• Interview on Bondage and Corporal Punishment in "Different Loving," by Gloria G. Brame, William D. Brame and Jon Jacobs (1996)
• Cleo Dubois in Her Own Words, monthly guest column on Gloria Brame, PhD
• The Joys and Challenges of Topping, "On Our Backs" Magazine

FILMS

My films are currently screened in college sexuality and women's studies classes.

"Vice and Consent" (2006) Howard Scott Warshaw, Director
Featured Interview: This film was named "Best Documentary" at CineKink Film Festival (New York) and the VIFFI Film Festival (Hollywood), and was also a featured selection at the San Francisco Frameline Festival and queerDoc Australia Film Festival.

" Tie Me Up!" (2001)
Producer and Director: Reviewed by Jerry Zientara, Ed.D., Librarian, Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality as "...combines exquisite unusual erotic energy with highly educational tips & rich production value."

"The Pain Game" (2000)
Producer and Director: Educational Film Recognition Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, screened at the San Francisco Frameline Film Festival 2001, LadyFest 2002, the 2nd Annual SM Film Festival in New York, and Festival de l'Etrange in Paris. Reviewed in the Village Voice as "a serious attempt to illustrate and analyze the deeper passions of SM play.... the viewer is left in no doubt about the potential for achieving ecstasy through sustained, consensual SM play."