Stilt walking meets contortion
Past workshop · September 29, 2024
Location · Crescent Fort Rouge United Church · Winnipeg
With · Anastasia Evsigneeva & Allara Gooliaff
Stiltortion brought together stilt walking and contortion to explore new possibilities in flexibility, balance and artistic expression. The workshop approached stilts as extensions of the body, investigating how altered proportions can transform both movement technique and the shapes we create.
From a contortion perspective, participants explored how the additional leg length could make certain backbending shapes and hand-to-leg connections more accessible. Applications included chest-stand variations, needle scales and catching the back leg in a split, using the stilt as an extended point of contact.
The stilts also served as a progressive training tool. By gradually walking the hands along the extension toward the foot, participants explored changing leverage, muscular engagement and control, an approach intended to support their development toward the same skills without extensions.
From a stilt-walking perspective, the workshop introduced contortion principles as a way to expand movement vocabulary, explore flexibility and discover unfamiliar balances and expressive forms.
Combining technical exploration with creative practice, Stiltortion offered a space to investigate how each discipline could inform the other, with stilts functioning as both a training apparatus and an artistic medium.
