2nd INTERNATIONAL CONTORTION CONVENTION
Las Vegas NV / USA, September 10-13, 2000

Convention 2000 / Connection / Deutsche ICC Seite

Dear friends,

we´re only 4 weeks away from the biggest event ever in contortion history. We are happy and proud to be able to present the list of attending and performing contortionists. Here we go :

April Tatro and June Tatro ** Undaarma ** Otgo ** "Josephine B." / Helena ** Imelda Jacobs ** Lars Howe ** Daniel "Danny" Smith ** Jonathan Nosan ** Kelvin Gordon

• PLUS a world-exclusive performance from Cirque in Vegas in appreciation of the work of the ICConnection - especially created and performed for the ICC 2000 : a triple contortion act
• PLUS - a very special guest : Daniel Hochsteiner - one of the fastest and most decorated jugglers in the world

Contortion experts and fans of the art of contortion from all 5 continents will be participating in this outstanding event.

So we will have more than 10 contortion acts containing female frontbending, female backbending, male frontbending, male backbending, dislocation and group performance - PLUS a world-class juggler. What else could you ask for ?

Most of the performers will also be present at the convention and will stand for questions and answers.

Watch out for an article in the LA Times about the ICC 2000 which will be published soon.

Some more detailed information about the event : (updated hotel information)

The address of the Sunset Station Casino and Hotel is 1301 W.Sunset Road, Henderson NV 89014. Phone no. (888) 786 7389 or 888-SUNSET9. If the 888-numbers don´t work from your country you can try the sales department under (702) 547-7717. The hotel´s website is www.sunsetstation.com  - the eMail for reservations is vip@stationcasinos.com.

A list of all participants who have registered and already paid has been handed to the hotel so that everybody can check in by just referring to the ICC2000 with his/her name.

The meetings will start Monday at 9:30am - but for all those who arrive on Sunday we will have a little "get-together" Sunday night between 7 and 8pm. Please ask at the hotel reception or follow the signs in the hotel.

On Monday and Tuesday we will have a schedule from 9:30am until late afternoon. On Tuesday evening  is the big Gala show. ICC participants will also have the possibility to join the rehearsals for the show. On Wednesday we will conclude the event around noon - so that you can use Wednesday afternoon for travelling - if you like.

For any information prior to the event please use only the following eMail address : ska@vnet.de . We will check and answer these mails within one day during the last 2 weeks. In urgent cases you can also call Ska´s office in Vegas (702) 433 - 3703 where you can also leave a message.

A late registration can also ONLY be done by sending an eMail to ska@vnet.de - including complete address data AND a phone or fax number where we can reach you - and the time when we can contact you using these numbers. This is important to secure a fast-enough handling.

Ok - that´s all for now - we´re looking forward to meeting you all in Vegas soon

Ska von Schöning and Klaus Bischoff

Update from June 20, 2000 Dear friends, THE COUNTDOWN HAS STARTED. Not even 3 months to go! We are now finalizing all registration details and procedures. Therefore it is very important that everyone who wants to join the event, reads this very carefully: Although many of you have sent us their firm registration form, we still have had hardly any payments coming in. The payment deadline is JULY 31, 2000. After that date, we will not be in a position to guarantee a participation in the ICC , since we might be running out of room and space availabilities. These bookings, specifically for the rooms and conference room, had to be made very early in advance to secure a nice location for this event. Therefore it is not possible for us to make any changes to these arrangements anymore. Everyone who has a firm registration with us will receive a mail shortly, which will supply you with further details and information on the present status of their bookings.

Please be aware, that you can now pay your registration fees using your credit card (which will be easier and cheaper for most of you). We created a form for that purpose. Please print this form, fill in the necessary data, sign it and send it by mail or fax to the address/number printed on the form We have to repeat once again, that it is vital for our planning and organizing of the event, that everybody who knows for certain that he/she wants to join the event has to make a definite booking and the registration payment by the above mentioned deadline date. In this connection we have to point out again, that it is not possible to just join the odd activity such as the workshops or the show event without paying the general registration fee. The whole event is based on a very tight price budget and calculation, the extras as mentioned underneath are only part of the complete package and can therefore be made available at a very reasonable price.

Now we are coming to the general schedule and agenda of the ICC 2000:

Sunday September 10, 2000 is the arrival day. We will have a little gettogether in the coffeshop in the evening around 6 or 7 pm. This will be a nice opportunity to get aquainted and meet friends again. ( Important: those who want to arrive on Monday 11th only, please advise us accordingly, so that we can cancel rooms which are not needed ) The "official" schedule starts Monday September 11, 2000 at 10 am including a brief introduction by the ICConnection Committee, the aims and work of the Connection etc. The first day will also be highlighted by April Tatro who is talking about her life and work experience as a contortionist in the US. We are very honoured and happy to also welcome April´s mother June at the event. She is most probably the most amazing and wonderful example and proof, that there is no age limit to stay flexible, fit and beautiful. April & June will also be available for any questions you might have in connection with their lives and experiences with contortion then and now. In this context we will also talk about different ways to practise and train contortion and flexibility (specifically for those who are practising flexibility at home for their own pleasure), examining the various health aspects and talking about general important guidelines to do so. For this we will also hear the professional opinion of an orthopedian, who will give us a general background speech, but also advise us and stand for any personal questions that might arise within the audience.

Tuesday September 12, 2000 will have activities like i.e. different Q & A podium discussions with contortionists like Helena (& Albana, if we can get a visa for her entry into the States), Undarma and Kelvin Gordon and other interesting guests and participants are planned. We have also invited our friends of the Yoga Sports Association, who we would like to introduce to you too.

On Tuesday evening we will have the event, which many of you will probably look forward to the most: Our Gala and Show Event. Everyone who is interested may already join the rehearsals in the afternoon.

This is all for now. With the next update we will present a detailed itinary of the ICC 2000 as well as the exact list of performers and show performances of the Gala Event.

If you have any questions, please contact us at any time.
Best wishes to all of you

Ska von Schöning and Klaus Bischoff

P.S. The pics which are published with this update have been personally made available and authorized for publication by Tunga, a good and valuable friend of mine. I hold her and her work in high esteem. A big Thankyou to her and her wonderful girls !

This phase is over now and we think we can determine on a more definite basis now what we are actually having to deal with. So please bear with us. I can assure you that each and everybody who filled in our registration form on the ICC page will get a response either through our updates, or through personal emails. All those who have already given us their 100% "goahead" registration will be contacted by email personally shortly in order to find out i.e. whether or not they want to take up our hotel room offer etc.

The first contract has been signed with them blocking us a preliminary amount of 50 definite rooms. These rooms will be offered at a rate of $ 49 (US) per night and will now be distributed amongst those who a) already made their firm registrations and b) of course want to take advantage of the offer and not stay somewhere else. Please be aware though that the longer you wait and withhold your definite decision on whether or not you want to attend the ICC, the more the room rates (anywhere in Las Vegas) might go up. On top of this, we will only deal with the room situation up to a certain time before the ICC, after that everyone who will come last minute will have to try and find rooms themselves. This of course should not create too much of a problem though, it might only be less convenient and more expensive depending on what is just going on in Vegas at that time.

The Sunset Station Hotel also was the only hotel that could offer us a reasonable rate for a real Las Vegas Style showroom for our special show event on the last evening of the ICC as well as an appropriate conference room for our daily meetings. All this is set and arranged already.

Please be aware that all above mentioned fees, including the event registration fee do not cover any room charges. These will have to be paid seperately to the hotel by each individual when checking out.

A detailed program schedule will be announced in our next update.
In the meantime, if you have any additional questions to the above, please feel free to contact us at any time. The eMail addresses are at the bottom of the page.

So - watch out for even more exciting news in the next weeks.

Ska von Schöning and Klaus Bischoff

Dear friends,

We understand that there is quite a considerable interest in the flexibility workshops, which we are planning for the ICC 2000. This is great ! Still I feel that we have to explain in more detail what these workshops will involve:

This way we can already mix the groups together appropriately. As I was mentioning in my last update, the trainers will be very experienced and will be ready to concentrate on each individual "body". This is how it is planned at the moment - and where can we find a better scenario to hold such workshops than at an event like the ICC.

Please do us a favour though! Those who are seriously interested in joining these sessions, should contact us as early as possible, because this will be important for us in order to organize the workshops in the most efficient and effective way. If you have any further questions, ideas or inputs, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time!

Re: Hotel rooms: We are now coming to the point whereby we need firm commitments from those people who are 100% certain that they will attend the ICC 2000 for sure, in order to guarantee the 49 US $ room rate for them. We have already blocked a certain amount of rooms with the hotel now. It will be a "first come - first serve" situation. The hotel has now mentioned that the next rooms blockings might be at a higher room rate.So, if you know for certain that you will come, please let us know. Your payments for registration etc... must arrive us by the end of Febuary 2000 as mentioned in the last update. All details for this will be published in our next update.

We do not intend to put pressure on anyone with the above. Please consider this just as a recommendation to save a little bit of money, in case you already know that you will be there at the ICC 2000 anyway.

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to all of you

Ska von Schöning and Klaus Bischoff

We recommand for you to make your flight arrangements as early as possible, in order to get reasonable fares. Another way to save some money, is for you to firmly register by the end of February 2000. We have decided to grant a discount of US Dollar 30.00 on the registration fee to all those who have made a 100% (sicher/sure) registration. This does include however, that the registration fee will also be paid on our ICC account by February 30, 2000.

Of course we have also been working in the meantime on our schedule for the ICC 2000. We are very happy to announce that APRIL TATRO, who most of you certainly know, will be joining us in Las Vegas. And what is even more exciting is, that April´s mother, who has also been a contortionist will accompany her. April AND her mother are planning to actively support us with our program. April will not only show her routine, but will also tell us about her life and experience as a professional contortionist. Be prepared, she will be having some very extraordinary stories to tell.

We are still in the process of putting the last nights show event together. We have been having quite a few inquiries already. However if any of you - especially in the US- have any recommandation or contact to a good contortionist, who might like to show his/her performance at the ICC, please let us know.

With respect to the workshops (yoga/stretching/contortion) the feedback has been rather slow so far. This is a little surprising, since usually from what we see in the chats and from the inquiries we have been getting over this subject forever, we know that there is a strong interest with many people to improve their limberness. All we can say here is: don´t be shy about this and come forward, if you are really interested. The workshops will be very reasonable (about 30 US Dollar each) and we can assure you, you might miss a chance of a lifetime. The workshops will be held by very experienced trainers, who specifically know about contortion - and in very small groups (max. 3-4 people). You don´t get that every day!

For those who are interested in doing some sightseeing: The hotel will be offering any kind of trip in and around Las Vegas. In this context, it should be mentioned, that anyone who likes to bring the family along, there will be plenty to do for them apart from the Convention. A pool is of course also there. The hotel rooms can be occupied by additional family members at the same price.

Now that will be all for the time being. Please, if you have any questions, never hesitate to contact us at any time.

Ska von Schöning

For various reasons of practacability, Vegas was chosen as the location for next years event. The major factors in favour of this place are the very reasonable room rates, the availability of a showroom and studio for holding workshops. Apart from that, the organizing team has appropriate connections and assistance in Vegas, which are necessary to secure an efficient handling of all matters involved in any such event. We have already been inquiring about general conditions and room rates ect....

Now, however, it is important to take the matter one step further and try and find out, how strong the interest realistically is within the contortion society to participate in this convention. We will be needing this feedback from potential participants within the next two months in order to secure sufficient rooms etc.. for everyone. Therefore we are attaching a general form herewith, which we would like everybody, who is seriously interested in attending the ICC 2000, to fill in and return to us at their earliest convenience. From the scale of feedback we will be getting, we will be in a position to judge upon how many rooms will be needed and what size of convention room etc... we have to look for. Please be aware, that your returned form at this status will only be a priliminary action, which will not commit you to anything at this moment in time. Final commitments will only have to be done approx. 60 days before the event. In the meantime we will be keeping all of you closely updated about all details and procedures in conncetion with this event.

As you will see on the attached form, we specifically added sufficient room for you to bring up any kind of additional input, ideas and thoughts connected to this subject. We encourage you to use this extra space. Maybe you have some idea about a specific item on our agenda, or you have questions you would like to be answered etc.... If so, please let us know.

So far we can tell you that the following items will definitely be covered at the ICC 2000

1) History of the art of contortion
2) Training and the big question of health
3) talents and talent scouting
4) ways of promoting and supporting the art of contortion and talents
5) Future of the ICConnection Association
7) a Gala night will be held on the evening of the 5th
8) workshops/ training routines for people interested in stretching will be held all through the days of the ICC . MALE and FEMALE (upon request)

Of course, this schedule is a preliminary one. Any further serious idea or input on your behalf will be more than welcome and appreciated. This is all for now. We are anxious to hear from you soon.

Ska von Schoening and Klaus Bischoff

P.S. Again - if you are seriously interested - please fill in the attached form. Thank you

Contacts and emails : The following contacts will be happy to supply you with any information and answer your questions before and during the ICC 2000: Ska von Schoening :  ICConnection founding member (general coordination, organization, hotel registrations, workshops, your inputs ect...) Klaus Bischoff : , ICConnection founding member (close cooperation with Ska on all items concerning the ICC 2000, except hotel reservations ) Gerd Rasquin :  ICConnection founding member (same as above) David de la Torre :  ICConnection member (contact and coordination for the US)