Introduction

Hi, my names Toni and I'm 23 years old. I currently run a dance school and am in the process of training for and taking my professional dance exams in pretty much everytype of dance and performance style going. After watching 'You Tube' for tips I have become interested in contortion and have decided to train as a contortionist myself. I will be recording my progress as a controtionist aswell as my learning of various dance moves. Training is not going to be easy for me believe me! You see these post on You Tube, such as this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PTSfxyP1HI, well not everyone is blessed with such natural flexibility and going to be able to do this on there first day of training! I am not naturally flexible, I have to work for my flexibility. I have a scoliosis, 3 twisted vertabrae in my back, which will slow down my back flexibility alot, however stretching and conditioning has help to prevent me from suffering any back problems, which is why I want to keep this up. My leg flexibility is fairly good, I have quite loose hamstrings, so front splits aren't too bad. My biggest problem will be box splits, I have a problem with one of my hips which causes the joint to lock. My physio isn't sure if I will ever physically be able to achieve the flexibility for box splits, but feels that stretching, loosening and conditioning work with the hip will help to rid me of the pain it gives me. I have trained in contortion before, about 10 years ago I spent a summer training and achieved very good back flexibility. Other than an odd stretching session every now and then, and running a basic warm up and stretch in the dance classes I teach. I have not done any proper, regularly training prior to today. I am hoping that this blog will provide other people who are training as dancers, gymnasts or contortionists some advice and tips, and perhaps a little motivation. I would like to also show people the amount of hard work dancing takes, as many do not see it on par with gymnastics or other sports in terms of how much work and training is involved. I will take a few pictures and videos of what stage I will be starting on and put them online either today or tommorrow, and hope to do a blog (with pictures and photos) every day or at least once a week monitoring my progress. Keep checking back to see how I'm getting on. And if there's anyone out there training too, feel free to comment, add tips or ask questions. Toni