The ICC is a group of people who think that it is easier to get something done if we have a kind of "organization" supporting its members to work towards our common aims.
The idea to found this "connection" was brought up during the International Contortion Convention held in May 1998 in Dresden/Germany. The name "connection" was taken after a long discussion to show the character of this organization :
It is not an association with an hierarchical structure like a company or a sports federation
but it´s also not just a community or society without any rules
We DO have rules and we want everybody joining us to accept and follow these rules - cause we want to use this organization to represent contortion in a positive and public way - whether you think it´s an artform, a sport - or just an entertainment form.
Now what is it all about -- and how can we change the world just by having this new organization ?
To support contortion : this means to support all performers, trainers and people working in this field - but also giving people interested in contortion the contacts and addresses where they may find the information and help they want. Supporting performers can be just giving them a platform to make contacts to other trainers or performers - but also to help them to obtain contracts and/or business contacts.
To promote contortion : by giving performers and trainers an organization to be based upon (one day) - working with media and other organizations to make contortion better known - and better respected in public.
To preserve contortion : collect and archive material concerning contortion and preserve it for future generations - pictures, movies, newspaper articles, books, training info etc. But it´s also important to make this accessible to the public nowadays - by publishing books or tapes about current and former performers or training issues.
Founding members of this group are (in no particular order) :
Tunga and Theo Krath (Mongolia/Germany) -- Ska von Schöning and Walter Kahl (Germany) -- Ilse and Walter Sangree (USA) -- Gerd Rasquin (Germany) -- David Fox (USA) -- to name just some of the more prominent out of more than 20 persons who want to take an ACTIVE part in this new organization.
There´s something that should be made clear from the very beginning: We all have the greatest respect for Ron Simpson and the ICS (International Contortion Society) he founded some years ago. Only by his work we are now in the situation to make this next step. We now need an organization working with the media and the newest technologies -- and we ALL need to work together to achieve our goals.
