I've been a rigger for years and I want to start performing rope bondage at public events but I'm nervous about the scrutiny. What do people actually judge in public rope performance?

The anxiety about public rope scrutiny is understandable but the criteria that experienced observers actually apply are probably not what you are worried about.

Safety handling is the first thing anyone knowledgeable will notice: are you checking in with your model, reading their body language, monitoring for circulation issues, managing the scene's environment? A rigger who ties beautiful but then disappears into their own performance while their model's face shows distress will be noticed negatively before anything about the ties themselves.

Communication with your model, visible even to observers, signals competence. Quiet check-ins, adjustments made in response to subtle signals, and the quality of care visible in how you handle their body are all things experienced rope people read very quickly.

Aesthetic complexity is less important than people at the beginning of public performance usually assume. A well-executed simple tie, performed with care and presence, reads as more skilled than a complex pattern executed with inattention. Watching experienced Japanese rope practitioners specifically, almost all of them describe simplicity and presence as the marks of mastery rather than complexity.

How you handle problems is arguably the most instructive thing observers see. Rope that does not behave as expected, a model who needs a position changed, a technique that needs adjustment in real time: calm, confident problem-solving is specifically what separates practiced performers from people who have only tied in private.

Public performance develops through repetition. Your first few performances will always feel more scrutinised than they are.