8.8 REMEMBER
Ever since I was a child I have always been a patron of the arts. I have gone to all the plays, watched all the famous films. but behind it all I have always loved watching ballet. One of the major reasons for my love of Ballet is my absolute love of flexibility. Ever since I was a young child my parents always went to see the famous ballet 'The Nutcracker'. The first time I saw this play I fell in love, watching those beautiful women bounding around, their limbs bending. That cold december day after that ballet I went home, and I started my first stretching. I was 12 at the time. I soon enrolled in gymnastics, further helping my flexibility. learning both flexibility and strength training, very important things in the live of a contortionist. I learnt the secrets to holding yourself up, I could walk on my hands, as well as stretched my way into three way splits. I continued with the gymnastics until I hit the age of about 15. I was as limber as I could get with the streamli
ned teachings of the gymnastics troupe. I then went out on my own searching for the every powerful stretch. I searched and searched. Every night spending hours stretching myself to the limit, oversplits became easy. I soon started dabbling with more bizzare tasks. For instance the 'Leg behind head pose' Which at first seemed very impossible, was found to be one of the easiest poses I had. And by far one of my personal favorites. I went on, mostly stretching out my legs, and my arms until I was capable of 270 splits, and dislocations alike. I could get into the little boxes, as well as push limbs back behind this, and twist them around that. I continued until one day the circus came to town. I, a lover of clowns, and risks went on my allowance money. I arrived walking around. Then I saw her, a woman dressed in the cloth of what looked like a snake. She stood seemingly normal enough, talking to another person whom I desided must be just another circus worker. I stopped p
aying attention to her until out of the corner of my eye I saw her figure change, I looked over and saw nothing but her legs, then one arm, and then another. to my amazement (at 16 few things are amazing) she had managed to bend herself over backwards. I watched her act with glowing eyes. Watched as she emerged from a bag small as the boxes into which I practiced. She started with simple splits, some leg shouldering and other simple Yoga/Gymnastics positions. She did some extreme frontbends which I had never tried Seemingly flexible enough to kiss her own rear if the fancy touched her. I watched glowing time slowing down as she proceeded into her final act, Out of a wing came a short funny man carrying a hat and a cigarette. She took both, donned the hat and started smoking the cigarette. She then went down as if for another front bend, but she placed her hands on the table upon which she acted, she flung her legs up and over her head until they were hanging at either side of
her head. I watched with amazement, millions of newfound poses running through my head. I arched my back in anticipation. Watching as she used her feet to first take the hat off, then place it down on the ground, take the cigarette out of her mouth between her first and second toe, then act as if she were simply smoking it. Her Finale consisting of bending her legs down until her legs were both deep under her smiling face, clapping her feet together where her hands would be. The crowd loved it, and I did as well.
I ran home my body aching to start stretching this newfound region. I got home, and within 2 months my spine was loosening, Although I could do nothing of the act I had discovered I was able to do many deep bends with it. Stretching every day. Some of the poses I discovered amaze me to this day. but that is for another story.
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