What is the Sauce?

The Sauce is a space for people of all relationship configurations. You can come alone, with a partner, or with friends.

Our venue has two large rooms – the Lobby and the Theater, each around 1500 square feet.

The Lobby is our lounge space with pop-up experiences and a sensation area of some kind – some months it’s a dungeon, other months it’s a sensual touch area. The Theater is our dance floor from 9:30 – 11:30 pm and also serves as a get-to-know-you space during Happy Hour with connection games from 6:30 – 7:30 pm.

Both spaces offer a unique group workshop experience from 8:00 – 9:30 pm.

While we strive to have quiet nooks and intentional spaces, the Sauce is on the whole higher-stimulation event. 

The 418 offers filtered drinking water and two large multi-stalled bathrooms. Sorry, but there are no showers on-site. 

The Sauce is a PG-13 event that encourages flirting, sensual connection, and consensual edge-pushing. While some folks go deep with one person, it’s more commonly a butterfly-style event where people enjoy exchanges with multiple groups and partners throughout the night.

1. No intoxication—this is a sober event
2. No exposed genitals—bottoms of some kind must stay on at all times
3. No touching genitals with hands, faces, or mouths, even through clothing—consensual bumping and grinding is fine
4. No approaching someone and touching them from behind without pre-consent—meaning a pre-existing intimate relationship that ensures this person will be delighted at being surprised by you

• 5. At our topless-optional event, an exposed chest is not consent for touch

The Sauce is a Santa Cruz event with lots of locals that is increasingly expanding to the greater Bay Area community. There are partner dancers and kinksters, Tantra folks, and people newer to erotic exploration.

The party is very even when it comes to masculine and feminine energies. While it’s not a queer-centric event, there is usually a strong queer contingent including non-binary and trans folks. Being a small-town Santa Cruz dance event, the space is mostly white though as we grow this is thankfully changing.

While plenty of 20-somethings and folks over 55 come to the event, the bulk of attendees are in their 30s and 40s. 

The Sauce aims to provide a spectrum of options for attendees, from casual to deeper levels of engagement and risk-taking. It is a safer space – but no large party that openly explores erotic energy can be truly safe. Instead, as a community, we aim to take measured risks, reduce harm, and provide repair and accountability when harm occurs.

CONSENT CONTAINER

The Sauce offers a party experience that is more conscious than the bar scene but also riskier than your typical ecstatic dance or small workshop. We come together to explore erotic energy and push edges in the community.

You can view our evolving consent policy here and check out (or fill out) our incident report form here if you feel your consent was violated at an event or beyond.

WAYS TO OPT-IN AND OUT

I am committed to offering as many ways as I can to opt in and out of activities allowing you to customize your unique experience at each event.

The dance floor is separated into a wilder half, where folks can move and engage with more sexy pre-consent, and a milder half, where folks move slower, with more intentionality, or in more platonic ways.

I instruct guest workshop leaders to provide clarity on what an activity will entail and multiple ways to engage at various levels of intimacy, when possible.

ANGELS

We have volunteers on staff who serve as Angels – folks with some level of training as therapists, coaches, or other healing arts practitioners. The Angels are there to provide support in the form of a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a person to talk to if you feel lonely, or a simple hug. They are also there to offer basic mediation for conflicts that arise.

At every event, we have a dedicated queer angel on staff throughout the night to handle gender- and LGBTQ+ related Angel needs.

The Sauce offers a snack luck table where folks bring yummy finger food to share. While there will be snacks to keep you going throughout the night, you will likely want to eat dinner beforehand. 

The Sauce is a closed container based on our values of group cohesion, ongoing erotic education, and safer spaces. For these reasons, the event always starts with a workshop followed by open time. The workshops are vital to cultivating a community with more skill and care – and this is what allows us to go deeper.

For these reasons, sorry but you can not come after the doors close.

The Sauce is hosted by me, Bez Stone, and I serve as your Pleasure Captain for the evening. I curate unique guest teachers, artists, musicians, and other leaders to offer our community their talents. No two Sauces are the same.

I’m a writer and certified sex and relationship coach. Ten years ago, I stumbled down the path of reclaiming my sexual fulfillment after my marriage fell apart. Now I’m passionate about providing opportunities for erotic expansion and deeper self-knowledge in the context of community. I have given a TEDx talk on female orgasm and done a stand-up comedy piece about squirting. I’m equal parts MILF and mystic, revering the vulnerability of erotic expression while also reveling in the raunchy, ridiculous, and comical aspect of connection. 

If you want to apply to work-trade, lead a workshops or pop-up experience, or offer your music, please contact Bez Stone here via email, here view Facebook messenger, or here via Instagram.