Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (& Manumission) Part 1 - The Sex

"Manumission, the biggest, greatest, most debauched club in the world. You know, the one with the dance music. And the dwarves. And the people on stilts. And the fire-eaters. And the live sex show. And the KILLER RAVE
DRUGS." (NME)

Manumission; "A notorious Ibiza nightclub, once famous for live sex shows."
(News Of The World)

10 years after they started (and six since they packed in the sex shows) Manumission remains synonymous with sex, drugs and rock & roll as well as with Ibiza and the club culture that defines today's island. Happening every Monday night throughout the summer at the 10,000 capacity Privilege, the club remains Ibiza's biggest and most influential event, its performances and productions consistently outshining all other rivals as it backrooms serve the freaks, a combination that's worked wonderfully throughout the last ten years.

Though marking their first decade recently with a one-off Friday event, the club appear set on embracing a dramatic new change, specifically over their music: after ten years of house, they're about to go rock & roll.

"Ibiza's at a crossroads, as is the club culture," says Andy Manumission.

"I believe that the next progression for Ibiza is mixing dance music with live music, and the fusion between them. We need to build up the live scene here because until it gets bigger we're not going to get that exciting fusions of DJs and live."


Or the live sex again, it seems.

"The sex thing has always been very important though it reached the point where it hijacked our agenda and we stopped the live sex shows six years ago for that reason," he explains.

"There's always been and they'll always be a sexual element to Manumission, it just can't be allowed to dominate, otherwise nothing else can develop. The balance is fantastic now, there's lots of nudity and stripping but it's art rather than sex shows."

SEX & . . .

"Her management company has banned Charlotte from going to the Manumission club because of its association with live sex shows, which might damage her image". The Sun on teenage opera singer Charlotte Church's holiday rules, August 2004.

Ever since reality documentary show Ibiza Uncovered featured Manumission's live sex shows on TV, the club's remained tabloid fodder for sex and celebrity scandals and arriving tonight at 3am to catch the end of the first stage show it's easy to see why. Over 50 lithe, semi naked (and fully naked) girls gyrate and thrust to instrumental versions of Thriller and Peaches' "Fuck The Pain Away", drawing all eyes to the front to watch what's a highly choreographed theatrical S&M tinged stage show. With professional strippers included in the cast, it's certainly titillating though as ex dancer Sharmila points out, there's considerably more to being a Manumission girl than first meets the eye.

"I think it's quite an honour being a Manumission girl, it's a privilege to do it and it's a very hard job to get, not many girls get chosen and the ones that do are selected for different qualities," she points out.

"Some are chosen for their PR skills, others for their looks or dancing abilities."

Sharmilla, an Australian (very beautiful) dancer who holidayed on the island in 1999 before falling in love and staying, is certainly one to know, given that she nowadays helps audition the 300 or so wannabees that apply for jobs each year as well as promoting Manumission's after-party Carry On At Space. She's also aware that few clubbers ogling the show tonight have a realistic chance of getting near them, certainly not romantically.

"A lot of the girls are single but the thing is, clubbers come and go, they're never here long enough," she points out. "The girls usually get involved people who work on the island."

In between performances, the dancers circulate throughout the club, dancing on the small stage alongside Justin Robertson in the side room or just generally looking gorgeous wherever they pause. Manumission's Tags