Hip Hip Not Hooray

The results of the latest test looking into my insides are in, and the results, while not surprising, aren't terribly awesome.

It would appear that my hips, particularly the right one, are somewhat deformed. This doesn't really explain my back pain, but it does explain what I've basically come to accept as my "bad hips".

It turns out the curves below the right femoral head aren't the same. One is longer than the other creating a bump that makes my hip... stick. But here's where it gets weird...

My left hip has the same problem but to a much lesser degree. It is, however, right up in the socket. My right hip, the one with the bump, sticks out much farther from the joint. While this normally might be seen as a bad thing, it actually leaves more room for the aforementioned bump to pass.

In other words, the two abnormalities in my right hip cancel each other out.

In the future, the wonkiness in my hips could lead to the erosion of the cartilage there. Right now, every thing seems okay on that front, though. It will, however, be something I'll need to keep an eye on as I get older.

What does all of this mean? Let me sum up a la Mastercard:

Doctors visited: 2
Osteopaths seen: 2
Kinesiologists frequented: 1 (or, "too many")
Countries examined in: 2
MRIs: 1
Ultrasounds: 1
X-rays: 1
Bone scans: 1
Theories: 4
Answers: 0

Next up... some alternative medicine...

Getting Close to Go Time!

And so, my month and a half long break is almost at a close. I didn't train all that much and spent a lot of time running around town getting various scans and x-rays to try and determine the source of my back and hip pain. They jury is still out on that one.

Sunday marked the first ever training session on my brand new wheel! She's gorgeous and exactly what you would expect from a Zimmermann. Unexpected, however, was not having my straps with me. While disapointing, it wasn't the end of the world. I have a number of training sessions this week, and considering the bulk of my act is straight lines, it was good to spend the time on a couple of figures that have been giving me trouble.

One thing I was not prepared for was adjusting to the floor. ENC has always been my main training space and is where I've logged the most hours. However, a year of working on wood floors has clearly marked me. The floor at ENC is concrete covered in a thick rubber and really isn't ideal for wheel. It's too soft and the wheel has a tendency to sink and lose speed. Wood is much firmer and faster. Suddenly, I'm finding myself working much harder than I should be to get the height and speed I need to pull off my tricks. By the time I get properly adjusted to this floor, I'll have to get used to the theatre floor in Blagnac (our next stop on the tour). Fortunately, I know my "home" floor isn't too far beyond my reach. We'll be back under the big top at the end of March.

One week from tomorrow I'll be on a plane to France. A few days later, the second year of the tour officially begins! I wonder what adventures this crazy world of circus has in store?

Urgle....

I finally got back onto my wheel after a month long break. It would appear that the problem isn't not training for a month, the problem is not having been hit repeatedly with a metal bar for a month.

Get It While It's Hot!

For a limited time only, half of the 31st edition of the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain de Paris is available online!

Normally, ARTE's online content is only accessible from France, but that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment, so take advantage of this opportunity to see a portion of one of the most famous circus festivals in the world!

Personally, I have some rather strong opinions about this festival that I'm going to keep to myself. I also have a number of friends competing this year, and to that I say "woot woot!"

Will they mop the floor with the competition? Based on the half of the program that's up, I have to say, yes. Yes they most certainly will.

Will scandal arise? Will there be an upset? Will more of my alma mater's alumni walk away with some hardware? We'll find out tomorrow!

The Circus, Now Available in Book Form

If you are a lover of circus, there is a book out there, no, there is a tome out there that you need to get your hands on. It's called The Circus 1870s - 1950s and it's awesomness will melt your brain.

You can actually leaf through a part of it here.

And while I was going to write about some of the wonderful subject matter this spectacular book delves into, it looks like the good folks at Taschen are a step ahead of me. They made a promotional video for this exquisite book!

After flipping through the virtual book and the tantalizing video, I bet you're just itching to get a copy, right? Well sadly, this 670 page beast doesn't come cheap. It costs a whopping $200! To be fair, the pages are glossy, often with full page colour images. And it's in English, German and French. I've seen it first hand and it's totally worth it.

But if $200 dollars out of your pocket book just isn't going to happen, there's hope yet. At my local Chapters store I discovered a smaller, though still coffee table sized, version of this book! It's only 385 pages or so and this edition is the English version only. Unfortunately, that means only a third of the stunning photographs, but at $35 cdn, I think I'll get over it.

An added bonus? This smaller edition of the book is currently 30% off!

So now that I've pretty much hosted a small infomercial in honour of this book, I have one final point to make.

Only I can't because my lap top won't read my camera's memory card.

But one day, it will. And then... then you'll see.

Eureka!

I can't believe I hadn't thought of this sooner...

I hate running. Hate it. Tried to do it this summer and failed miserably. Props to me, of course, for at least doing it for me and not the stop watch. That made it slightly more enjoyable.

True, this fall after the disastrous showing in Dole, I did start running in Paris. But that quickly stopped once shows started and I was able to get through my number.

So here I am, back in Montreal, sitting on me arse. I know I need to run. I know I need to do cardio. I could pretty much skip wheel training and just do cardio and be okay, really. Not that that's something I'd like to do. What's an acrobat to do?

Dance.

I hate running, but dancing makes me happy. Dancing to stupid music makes me really happy. Dancing to stupid music and getting a cardiovascular workout? Outstanding!

Not only will dancing around like a crazed baboon be more fun than running, dancing consists of all kinds of different movements using as many parts of my body as I choose. Unlike running, which keeps a relatively constant shape. Plus, I can vary the intention of each movement, the speed, the intensity, everything! And that is far more representative of a circus act than running laps.

The possibilities are endless. I can change musical styles, give myself little dance challenges, play around with the quality of movement... just like my movement classes back in theatre school! Heck, I'm excited just thinking about all the fun I could be having.

It seems so obvious. So simple. Why did it take me so long to come to this conclusion?

Who cares?

Let's dance!

Snowflakes and Tumbleweeds

There not much to write about on the circus front these days. I went back to France for a whopping 6 shows* and am now back home for a month and a half break. We were initially supposed to be going to Portugal at the end of the month, but money woes has pushed that part of the tour to the end of 2010. So now, I need to find a way to occupy myself here at home.

I say that as if there's nothing to do. I have my back to worry about and went in for a bone scan yesterday. While my scan did show a very full bladder (thanks for making that so visible, radiation), I won't have the results for a couple of weeks.

Then of course there's training. I do not want to relive what I went through after the last hiatus. No sir, this time it's nose to the grind. So tomorrow, I sign up at the Y. That leaves the somewhat trickier bit of wheel training. I tried to see if I could fandangle something at my old elementary school. A five minute walk from my house instead of two hours (each way) by bus to get to the circus school? I'll take that. At least I would if they had let me. No dice. The principal had no problems, it was the school board. Fiends...

So it looks like I'll be making the trek to ENC. I just need to figure out what the most financially sound option is. The details of which I will spare you.

Lastly, and in many ways most importantly, I need to get on the phone and start laying a path for my circus to come perform on this side of the Atlantic.

So... yeah. Looks like occupying myself may not be too hard after all.



*Small town outside of Paris. Great theatre, annoying hotel. Some trouble with one line, I was distressed, but then I fixed it. Went bowling. Was the last to check out and had to pay a colleague's bill. The end.