July 7, 2021 xerxes

In this interview, Nina Burri talks about her transformation from a ballet dancer to a contortionist at an age when people usually stop practising professional contortion. She gives us an insight into the process and what it took to go through this metamorphosis on a physical as well as on mental level, and what it takes today. She also gives insights into her perception of life.

About

Nina Burri Contortionist

Nina Burri is an exceptional entertainer and stage performer originally from Bern-Switzerland.After a 10 year very successful ballet career for the best dance companies in the world (e.g. Béjart Ballet Lausanne) and shows such as the world famous „Moulin Rouge“ in Paris, Nina decided to go one step further in her career. She left everything behind and went to China to learn the art of contortion and hand-balancing. After 6 months and 8 hour training-sessions a day she came back to Europe and created her first solo act „Goldeneye“ – an homage to the James Bond movies that became so popular that she almost immediately got booked for high-class galas, corporate events, TV Shows and festivals all over the world. Nina is an award winning artist who is known for her beautiful looks, professionalism and amazing charisma and talent. Her breakthrough in Europe came with the second place in the TV Show „Switzerland’s Got Talent“ in 2011. In July 2014 Nina was given the US Greencard for her unique career and achievements. And as a finalist for „America’s Got Talent“ in 2014, she received worldwide recognition in front of millions of viewers on TV and the world wide web.

Besides her stage performances, Nina works as a speaker, model and actress and is regularly presenting festivals and galas as a host. In 2021 she was given the “Lifetime Achievement Award” for her 35-year long career on stage. Nina is considered the oldest professional working contortionist in the world and is happy to keep entertaining audiences with her exceptional art.

„A Million Dollar Act“ – Howard Stern

Links

Official Website: ninaburri.com
Transcript of the Interview
This text has been auto-transcripted. Please excuse mistakes.

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Welcome to Challenging Paradigm X.

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Have you ever said to yourself, I’m
too old to do this or to learn this?

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What does daily bodywork and practicing extreme flexibility
do to your mind and what could happen in your life?

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If you dare to believe in yourself today?

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My guest is Nina Burri.

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Nina is an exceptional entertainer and stage performer.

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Practicing the art of contortion.

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Contortion is an art that requires extreme
physical flexibility, where the artists

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do feeds of seemingly inhuman flexibility.

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She started at the age of 30 the age at which
most contortionists stop performing this art.

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And please be aware.

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Contortion is nothing that someone just performs as a hobby.

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The level of dedication and training it requires is
comparable to the one of a high performance, right.

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Essentially with what she achieved.

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Her story is challenging.

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Many paradigms.

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Nina will let us dive into her past and tell us about her
metamorphoses to watch she calls becoming really herself.

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So basically how she turned format, Moulin Rouge,
a performer who wasn’t always self-conscious.

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To one of the world’s most prominent contortionists
by overcoming all critical voices from the outside

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and by daring to do what you really believe in
and dance at an age, no one in the field will

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have imagined it to be still physically possible.

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Amongst other things.

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She became a finalist in America’s got talent
and recently received the lifetime achievement

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award for a 35 year long career on stage.

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Currently she works as a stage performer
speaker model, actress and moderator.

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While being the oldest contortionists in
the world who has set herself the goal of

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doing the split still at the age of 90.

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So if you’re interested in finding out
how she achieved, these feats stayed here.

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Isaac SIS.

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And I’m today with Nina brewery.

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Nina.

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Welcome to my podcast.

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Please introduce yourself where you are.

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What do you do?

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Hi, Texas.

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I’m happy to be with you on this podcast.

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I’m a Swiss contortionists.

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I’m probably the oldest contortionist
in this world right now.

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I’m 44 almost in August.

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They’re going to be 44 and I do this
crazy contortion thing for about 14 years.

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And before it was a ballet dancer.

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I danced all my life since the age of six and I traveled the
world for all my contracts and education and yeah, I danced

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everywhere and I had a pretty moving life all the time.

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So yeah, I’m on the move until Corona happened.

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And then of course we all slowed down a little.

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Yeah.

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But my life is pretty bendy and flexible.

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You can say that.

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So you say since you’re six.

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Yes.

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I started ballet dancing when I was six years old.

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A musical show in a musical show and the stage.

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And I said, told my mother, I want to do this.

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I want to be on stage.

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And she said, if you want to be on
stage, you have to learn first something.

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And we started with ballet.

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I didn’t really know what ballet is by the time.

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I just know, knew that I wanted to be on stage that’s.

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That was always the main thing.

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So I started ballet at seven around
seven, and then my first performance.

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Really three years later in the same
show, which is so at the age of six.

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And since then, I’m I have this virus
inside of me to the dancing and stage virus.

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And maybe, yeah, this is a profession,
not only a profession, but in Germany we

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say, but hopeful something you have to do.

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Yeah.

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And I, I still love it because I think I have to love
it so much to do this, that still because it’s very

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demanding for the body, the body work I do every day.

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Yes.

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So, I mean, basically when I counted right.

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Like stage performance for 35 years now.

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Yeah.

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Yes.

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I just got the lifetime achievement award for my
skews and I thought, oh my God, I’m not that old.

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But when I think about it, I’m really old in what I do
because contortionists are usually about 30 when they stop.

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And I started when I was 30 with
contortion and that’s a weird thing.

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And now I’m, I’m actually.

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To have to honor it to get that award.

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But I thought, okay, this is weird.

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I always see or saw so far people that are 78 years
old at the end of their life and they get this award,

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but yeah, it’s, it’s kind of special, you know?

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Oh, it is special.

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And please tell me, like, I mean, do I
understand correctly after 35 years you had

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your first time kind of a break after 35 years.

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So you’re ongoing for 35 years.

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You were always.

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I didn’t never do a break.

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I’m always performing, but Corona of course,
made us stop a little bit to do the stage work.

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But contortion is so demanding
that you have to do with every day.

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You, you need to, for the people that don’t
know what contortion is, it’s actually

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extreme flexibility done with your body.

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You can imagine, like in Switzerland
they call me, translated.

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It’s like snake woman.

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So that means I’m the very flexible person.

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And in order to maintain that flexibility,
you have to work out every day.

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That means.

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Home office is not a strange word for
me because I do it everyday at home.

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And in Corona times, of course, we didn’t have the chance to
perform on stage, but still through internet or other, other

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options I could of course show my skills a little bit, but.

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It was still a little break from my usual
crazy traveling life, which is leading,

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guiding me to from one show to the next.

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So Corona made it happen that it slowed down a little, which
is also healthy too, to not only to recover, but also to.

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I have some ideas.

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Okay.

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Where I am.

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Where do I want to go?

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Especially in this time, when I got one
month ago, this lifetime achievement award,

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I thought, okay, can I get more high?

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I mean, in my career, is it possible to get more?

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Not really, but because I lift all the things already,
but you can change because you change as a person a little

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bit, and you have another approach on stage pro possibly.

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And other impacts that come in the
performance, which is very interesting.

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For example, Working as a speaker connection in connection
with my skills as an artist, transmitting some ideas.

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How do you work with your body in that age?

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Can also be interesting for certain people.

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You can be a role model, for example, because
people always think when you are so old, as

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I am, you can not start something new or you
are too old to do that, which is not true.

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You can always make progress.

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So those are the things that came to my
mind only because of this break and yeah.

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It always a pros and contrast.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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So you, you thinking of going more into the direction of
speaking and combining it with your stage performance?

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I don’t plan it so fast or so
far, but I had done it already.

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And it’s always interesting for people
I realize because when I’m only doing.

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I’m an artist.

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I’m a contortionist.

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When I start to be a speaker or I speak, I use my voice.

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I reached the people on the other level and
when they then know how my career went or what

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my career was so far, which is different from
all the normal careers, people normally are 18.

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They stopped their education as
contortionists or as artists.

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And then they start to be on stage with that art
and maybe 10 or 20 years later, they finished.

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I started contortion only at 30.

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In an age where nobody believed I can.

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A level, a good level of professional level
in conclusion, this was my turning point.

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And there is sometimes a need in the audience to
know that and to motivate young people, especially

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to not give up and not think when they are 18, they
have done it all and they cannot reach anymore new

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goals because some people don’t MI Nina, I I’m 20.

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Now I’m too old.

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Isn’t it say no.

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W who says you are too old, you can always
go further and you can always try because

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at least to try then, you know, you know,

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So, especially with your arts, like flexibility in the body.

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And do you, you see a connection to flexibility and a
person in my age and in what I do you have always to

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change because you, you know, the market is never stable
the market in, in as an art for an artist, for a circus

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performer, for a dancer, for an actor, we are not like.

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Like, uh, I show now a straight line.

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You cannot see it, maybe.

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So you are not nine to five.

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You are not having five weeks of holidays.

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And then you have not the chance
to recover this time and be paid.

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We have always ups and downs and we must know
what is the need of the audience right now?

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What do they want?

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If my show is maybe not successful,
why is it not successful?

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Can I change something?

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So you have to be very alert, like a snake.

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I mean, it’s, it’s, you know, you have to be alert.

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You have to know, is it good?

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What I do if it’s running well,
then maybe I do everything right.

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Or maybe I can change things.

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And I have to question this, you
know, and be open for changes.

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I cannot be here and say, Nope.

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It’s good.

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And it will always be good.

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It can be good.

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Yes.

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On stage, but sometimes the market changes.

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So I have to adapt.

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For example, in this year we learned that SU meetings are
very important when I would say, oh no, I have not left.

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I have to have a computer.

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I will never do that.

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Then I will be still say, do not move over to anymore.

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I think you have to always have your eyes
and ears open and your senses for the people.

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For the needs and for what’s happening in the
world in order to be a good artist and to be,

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to find your place in the system before you
started your art, you were a ballet dancer.

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Your level of flexibility has
been much lower than it was after.

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Or the actual question is I’m really interested
in, if you also found there was a change,

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how your mind works when you started with.

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Okay.

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I always knew I’m flexible.

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Sometimes more flexible than normal dancers.

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This was my big issue.

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Let’s say it was not always a pro because
by the time I was a ballet dancer, this

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kind of flexibility was not even asked.

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I mean, you have to have, you had to have a
certain flexibility, but technical aspects like

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turning, jumping, where much more important
in this time when you had this flexibility.

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I have sometimes the only one and sometimes it could not
even use it because the whole group was doing different.

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So.

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Okay.

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I know my skills, but I didn’t really train it so much.

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But when I was a kid and this is interesting, my first
thing I did actually, before I started ballet was cartwheels

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in the garden, or I did the acrobatics for myself.

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What I saw on television.

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I just copied that.

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I played, I played circus.

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Let’s say that.

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So I was actually maybe a contortionist
already before I even started ballet, but

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without knowing it consciously, and then I.

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Ballet dancer.

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And I sometimes knew, okay, maybe I should be a soloist.

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Maybe I should do something that I have
a solo role and I have to sell it then.

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But I knew only with dancing,
that’s really pretty difficult.

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So the thought to be a contortionist came.

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Yeah.

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Because I knew I have, I don’t want
to go on as a ballet dancer anymore.

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At the age of 30, I knew, okay, either you stop
or you, you do something that is really you.

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And that’s why I looked in the internet.

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What kind of possibilities are there for
doing an education as a contortionist?

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The name contortionists was not even so much in my
mind and not even a picture, but I knew flexibility

209
00:11:42,909 –> 00:11:45,099
and a new acrobatics, something like that I want to do.

210
00:11:45,459 –> 00:11:45,849
And then.

211
00:11:46,624 –> 00:11:47,734
Everything went really quick.

212
00:11:47,764 –> 00:11:49,684
I found a school in China.

213
00:11:50,284 –> 00:11:54,004
I knew I can go there for longer than
just two or three weeks in summer.

214
00:11:54,004 –> 00:11:56,224
I can study there for one year or two years.

215
00:11:56,524 –> 00:12:03,754
So I went there for six months and it’s not that the teacher
paid a lot of attention to me, but I, I watched the kids

216
00:12:03,754 –> 00:12:06,514
and I watched what they do and I learned, and I told them.

217
00:12:07,264 –> 00:12:08,044
I have to learn it.

218
00:12:08,074 –> 00:12:08,974
I have to do it now.

219
00:12:09,034 –> 00:12:13,444
I cannot disappoint myself and my people,
which are actually not believing in me

220
00:12:13,924 –> 00:12:15,904
that I can do that still at the age of 30.

221
00:12:16,144 –> 00:12:17,724
So I thought, okay, I want to try.

222
00:12:17,794 –> 00:12:18,424
And I gave it a try.

223
00:12:19,704 –> 00:12:22,644
And when I came back, I was pretty
much already a contortionist.

224
00:12:22,884 –> 00:12:25,884
That means I trained for six months, eight hours a day.

225
00:12:25,974 –> 00:12:30,804
And I transformed my body from ballet dancer
into contortionists means I learned hand

226
00:12:30,804 –> 00:12:32,754
standing, which I never did as ballet dancer.

227
00:12:33,414 –> 00:12:38,814
And I learned this crazy over stretches of
the legs and the back, which needs to be

228
00:12:38,814 –> 00:12:40,914
done every day when you’re a contortionist.

229
00:12:41,919 –> 00:12:47,619
And yes, it worked, luckily because you know, when you never
did it, you cannot know how the body is going to react.

230
00:12:47,859 –> 00:12:54,039
Sometimes maybe people find out that Friday, like
me, maybe they find out, oh no, I have always paid.

231
00:12:54,129 –> 00:12:55,059
I cannot do it.

232
00:12:55,449 –> 00:12:57,429
But luckily my body reacted very well.

233
00:12:57,429 –> 00:13:03,279
And so I knew I can do this and it gave me
very much strength and, and forced to do it.

234
00:13:03,279 –> 00:13:09,099
And I said, okay, I found my thing and now I
can invent shows because I know it’s always,

235
00:13:09,099 –> 00:13:10,449
I don’t have to look after the others.

236
00:13:10,449 –> 00:13:11,349
I’m not a soloist.

237
00:13:11,709 –> 00:13:13,179
And of course the beginning was really hard.

238
00:13:13,179 –> 00:13:14,499
Nobody wants to see my chauffeur.

239
00:13:14,519 –> 00:13:19,719
So I had to really make sure they see me
in festivals and stuff like that to be seen

240
00:13:19,719 –> 00:13:22,359
as a new me before I was known as a dancer.

241
00:13:22,359 –> 00:13:24,819
But now I have to be known as a circus artist.

242
00:13:25,689 –> 00:13:26,049
Yes.

243
00:13:27,849 –> 00:13:29,529
So it took six months.

244
00:13:29,529 –> 00:13:31,379
This metamorphosis, basically.

245
00:13:32,069 –> 00:13:32,519
Yes.

246
00:13:32,519 –> 00:13:33,809
And of course, much longer.

247
00:13:33,839 –> 00:13:40,199
I mean, six months was just the beginning, but if you saw
me after six months, you so already the contortionists,

248
00:13:40,199 –> 00:13:45,679
you know, of course I, I, when I see videos now, from
this time, I was like, oh my God, everything is so slow.

249
00:13:45,689 –> 00:13:49,759
I had to be concentrated very much to do a
handstand and to hold it now, it’s like nothing.

250
00:13:50,544 –> 00:13:54,294
Like my second shoes, you know, I heard you
say that it’s, it’s like I do it every day.

251
00:13:54,324 –> 00:13:55,224
It’s so much natural.

252
00:13:55,244 –> 00:13:59,364
It’s so much inside of me that I basically,
I can watch television with the training.

253
00:13:59,364 –> 00:14:03,234
I don’t have to concentrate so much,
except if I work on new staff of course.

254
00:14:03,564 –> 00:14:05,664
But then it was still a new thing.

255
00:14:05,694 –> 00:14:09,384
So concentration, a lot of warmup, a lot of preparation.

256
00:14:09,414 –> 00:14:12,204
Yeah, this was of course, like every new thing.

257
00:14:12,204 –> 00:14:15,644
It has to be first, your second nature before you can shine.

258
00:14:18,934 –> 00:14:24,124
So that also something change on your
mind level, like in this process.

259
00:14:24,184 –> 00:14:30,754
I mean, it was a challenge obviously like, um, at
the session, but did you like looking back now,

260
00:14:30,784 –> 00:14:33,304
do you feel after six months or maybe once a year?

261
00:14:33,794 –> 00:14:37,744
That you also have changed as a person more.

262
00:14:37,774 –> 00:14:38,764
How do you say that in English?

263
00:14:38,914 –> 00:14:43,624
I was not very self-confident
before, as a dancer, I doubted a lot.

264
00:14:43,654 –> 00:14:46,084
I was always like in question, is it the right thing?

265
00:14:46,354 –> 00:14:48,034
Teachers told me I’m not good enough.

266
00:14:48,454 –> 00:14:49,654
Sometimes you didn’t get the job.

267
00:14:49,684 –> 00:14:52,444
I was used to get a no, you know, and the problem was.

268
00:14:53,214 –> 00:14:53,844
The exterior?

269
00:14:53,844 –> 00:14:59,634
No, the problem was sometimes my, no, because I adapted
it and I said to myself, or maybe I’m not good enough.

270
00:14:59,934 –> 00:15:02,154
Maybe I should be better.

271
00:15:02,154 –> 00:15:04,404
Maybe I should not be here and do that.

272
00:15:04,434 –> 00:15:09,834
You know, there was a lot of doubts because I
felt somehow that I was not really under, still

273
00:15:09,834 –> 00:15:12,264
not on the right place, physically and inside.

274
00:15:12,534 –> 00:15:13,424
So I knew.

275
00:15:14,334 –> 00:15:16,494
I have to first get my yes.

276
00:15:16,494 –> 00:15:18,164
Inside the yes.

277
00:15:18,164 –> 00:15:19,344
Saying I’m good enough.

278
00:15:19,404 –> 00:15:19,794
It’s good.

279
00:15:19,794 –> 00:15:22,644
What I do, I have to be convinced
to make sure the people are.

280
00:15:23,454 –> 00:15:27,324
What they see, you know, so I have to be
convinced myself about what I’m doing.

281
00:15:27,624 –> 00:15:31,794
And of course this transformation happened
really strongly from the moment I went.

282
00:15:31,794 –> 00:15:33,624
There was a big question, mark, can I do it?

283
00:15:33,624 –> 00:15:34,314
Is it okay?

284
00:15:34,584 –> 00:15:38,874
Is it really as bad as everybody says, because
they thought I’m stupid to do that because I was 30

285
00:15:38,874 –> 00:15:42,804
already and I’m an old woman doing something crazy.

286
00:15:43,074 –> 00:15:44,064
So nobody was asking.

287
00:15:44,754 –> 00:15:45,354
Helping me.

288
00:15:45,444 –> 00:15:46,704
So I had to be very strong.

289
00:15:46,704 –> 00:15:50,694
So a lot of question marks, but inside of me, I
kind of knew, okay, this must be the right thing,

290
00:15:50,694 –> 00:15:53,094
because I don’t want to look for something new.

291
00:15:53,334 –> 00:15:54,444
This must be the right thing.

292
00:15:54,954 –> 00:15:59,064
And then after three months in the process, I felt, okay.

293
00:15:59,604 –> 00:16:01,194
I feel it’s good.

294
00:16:01,284 –> 00:16:02,394
My body reacts well.

295
00:16:03,594 –> 00:16:08,154
I know I can shine in this when I worked
really hard and it was really much fun.

296
00:16:08,394 –> 00:16:11,274
I had no problems to, to, to work out eight hours a day.

297
00:16:11,304 –> 00:16:12,174
I had so much fun.

298
00:16:12,174 –> 00:16:16,644
It doesn’t feel like work and maybe this components
made it that I’m so happy about what I do.

299
00:16:17,589 –> 00:16:24,939
But when I came back, I was another person, a self
confident person, which is happy and which show, which

300
00:16:24,939 –> 00:16:30,999
likes to show what she can do and likes to impress
people, which didn’t believe in me in the first place.

301
00:16:31,029 –> 00:16:33,099
This gave me a lot, gave me a lot of motivation.

302
00:16:33,609 –> 00:16:37,449
Yeah, it was, it was like a big process from going there.

303
00:16:37,599 –> 00:16:39,159
The Nina starts to be in China.

304
00:16:39,729 –> 00:16:43,089
The Nina leaves, China was a very big difference.

305
00:16:44,199 –> 00:16:44,679
Beautiful.

306
00:16:45,039 –> 00:16:53,159
Yeah, it sounds like, like you, you believed in
what you want to do and you, you were able to, yes.

307
00:16:53,159 –> 00:16:59,519
I believed when I knew after six or let’s say three,
four months that it starts to look pretty nice.

308
00:16:59,519 –> 00:16:59,999
What I do.

309
00:17:00,909 –> 00:17:02,469
I can make something with it.

310
00:17:02,739 –> 00:17:03,819
I don’t have to be the best.

311
00:17:03,819 –> 00:17:07,989
I will never reach the level of a nine year old
Chinese contortionists, but that doesn’t matter

312
00:17:07,989 –> 00:17:10,149
because I knew what my, what my show should be.

313
00:17:10,149 –> 00:17:11,829
It should be a show with a theme.

314
00:17:12,099 –> 00:17:17,919
Like for example, I have this, this kind of famous James
Bond act, which is still one of my best acts, just because

315
00:17:17,919 –> 00:17:24,009
people see me, the bond girl, and they are happy just
for the music and the whole environment that I create.

316
00:17:24,279 –> 00:17:25,179
And I knew after.

317
00:17:26,004 –> 00:17:26,214
Yeah.

318
00:17:26,214 –> 00:17:30,744
It’s, it’s a little time actually, after four months in
the process that this is going to work, even if I didn’t

319
00:17:30,744 –> 00:17:38,484
have to show in front of my eyes yet, but it gives you, it
gives you so much confirmation that you get much stronger

320
00:17:38,484 –> 00:17:41,634
without having actually the people around you saying.

321
00:17:41,634 –> 00:17:47,904
Yeah, you’re strong because before I let myself lead
from the voices, a lot people said to me, oh, it’s bad.

322
00:17:48,084 –> 00:17:48,804
I believed it.

323
00:17:48,894 –> 00:17:50,274
I said, oh shit, I have to work more on the way.

324
00:17:50,274 –> 00:17:50,814
I’m not good enough.

325
00:17:51,024 –> 00:17:52,944
So you could make me a lot of look.

326
00:17:52,944 –> 00:17:54,354
You could make me very angry.

327
00:17:55,299 –> 00:18:00,609
And when I knew I found this, this art of
contortion, I knew I can leave ballet behind.

328
00:18:00,699 –> 00:18:04,869
And just as a training, I like it, but
ballet on stage behind, and I can start

329
00:18:04,869 –> 00:18:07,839
something that is probably now really me.

330
00:18:08,109 –> 00:18:12,119
And I think when somebody finds
the thing, that is your thing.

331
00:18:12,939 –> 00:18:14,079
It’s going to be easy.

332
00:18:14,169 –> 00:18:17,949
It’s like in love when you have a
relationship and it is always weird.

333
00:18:17,949 –> 00:18:21,819
And some, somehow you have to fight and
I don’t believe it’s the right partner.

334
00:18:21,819 –> 00:18:26,709
You know, it doesn’t mean that when you have the
right partner, you never fight, but it means sometimes

335
00:18:27,219 –> 00:18:29,799
things coming together when you feel it’s right now.

336
00:18:30,009 –> 00:18:31,689
And this feeling I had when I left China.

337
00:18:31,689 –> 00:18:37,779
And, uh, when I started, even if I didn’t have a job
yet, I felt confident that I have something to offer,

338
00:18:38,079 –> 00:18:40,089
which could be interesting for the people to see.

339
00:18:41,499 –> 00:18:46,389
So it must’ve been a very intense feeling,
basically on an intense moment in your life.

340
00:18:47,699 –> 00:18:48,029
Yes.

341
00:18:48,029 –> 00:18:51,479
Because you’re in this culture that you
don’t know, you don’t speak the language.

342
00:18:51,509 –> 00:18:53,519
Nobody is on your side to say, oh, you’re doing good.

343
00:18:54,219 –> 00:18:59,199
Everybody watches you strangely, because you
have to imagine I trained as a 30 year old with

344
00:18:59,199 –> 00:19:04,329
kids that are from nine to 12 years old and are
much more flexible are already professionals.

345
00:19:04,329 –> 00:19:07,629
And you feel like an old woman really,
literally again, right next to them.

346
00:19:08,259 –> 00:19:14,319
And yeah, this, this, this, this is not really
helping a lot to make sure you feel amazing what

347
00:19:14,319 –> 00:19:18,309
you do because in the beginning you feel where you
are and you are not yet there where you should be.

348
00:19:19,899 –> 00:19:24,789
If your body is doing it, what you ask it, then it is.

349
00:19:24,789 –> 00:19:24,999
Yeah.

350
00:19:24,999 –> 00:19:29,319
It gives you, it gives you the strength to, to go
through that process and to say it to yourself.

351
00:19:30,819 –> 00:19:31,179
Anyway.

352
00:19:31,209 –> 00:19:33,939
I know where I am is not there yet, but I’m on a good way.

353
00:19:33,999 –> 00:19:35,709
I’m on the right road to success.

354
00:19:35,769 –> 00:19:36,039
Yes.

355
00:19:36,539 –> 00:19:40,979
It’s very inspiring what you say because it’s, it
sounds kind of, for me, I might be wrong of course,

356
00:19:40,979 –> 00:19:46,919
but it sounds kind of for me that when you were six,
you had this dream of a ballet dancer, and then you

357
00:19:46,949 –> 00:19:50,189
outgrew that dream when you were 30 going there.

358
00:19:50,189 –> 00:19:55,769
So you go to China and went on the next stage of your life.

359
00:19:56,439 –> 00:19:58,539
Actually, it’s not really correct.

360
00:19:58,569 –> 00:19:59,919
I didn’t know, valley yet.

361
00:20:00,159 –> 00:20:04,869
I saw a stage performance and they did ballet as
well, but it was kind of a musical performance.

362
00:20:05,169 –> 00:20:08,469
So the only thing I wanted to really,
it was on stage to be on stage.

363
00:20:08,979 –> 00:20:11,049
It was not particularly, I want to be a ballerina.

364
00:20:11,079 –> 00:20:15,129
I didn’t even know what is ballet, but I of course
then started ballet because a kid, as a kid, you

365
00:20:15,129 –> 00:20:17,559
cannot, where do you, where should you start?

366
00:20:17,559 –> 00:20:21,069
Usually you start with ballet
or something like a basic, yeah.

367
00:20:21,969 –> 00:20:22,269
Yes.

368
00:20:22,269 –> 00:20:26,379
The ballet dream came really strong when
I was 14, because I had to decide, okay.

369
00:20:26,379 –> 00:20:30,519
Do I want to go on with this musical
school, with this musical comedy school or.

370
00:20:31,524 –> 00:20:35,784
Do I have to change and I had to change the
school because I was in a kind of not good school.

371
00:20:36,354 –> 00:20:38,934
Then I knew at the age of 14, yes.

372
00:20:38,934 –> 00:20:44,634
I want to be a ballet dancer or the new it, but I was
technically not so good because I missed a lot of technique.

373
00:20:44,934 –> 00:20:46,944
The school didn’t give this technique to me.

374
00:20:46,944 –> 00:20:50,274
They, the ballet school I was attending was not really good.

375
00:20:50,604 –> 00:20:55,964
So at 14 I realized I have to change schools
and learn a lot of things only at the age.

376
00:20:56,739 –> 00:20:57,489
17.

377
00:20:57,669 –> 00:21:02,919
I became kind of a professional in my ballet
education, which is a really late age.

378
00:21:03,049 –> 00:21:06,039
Usually when I came, I went to the ballet school in Berlin.

379
00:21:06,069 –> 00:21:07,689
This is a professional state ballet school.

380
00:21:09,024 –> 00:21:13,404
I’m happy that they took me because actually they
took me at the age of almost 18, which is the age.

381
00:21:13,434 –> 00:21:14,844
Usually you finish the school.

382
00:21:15,234 –> 00:21:20,514
So I had three years to run after my skills
and to learn what I didn’t learn before.

383
00:21:20,814 –> 00:21:22,194
And this was my valley dream.

384
00:21:22,224 –> 00:21:22,524
Really.

385
00:21:22,524 –> 00:21:24,264
I said to him, I said, I have to make it.

386
00:21:24,294 –> 00:21:26,304
I have to make it, but maybe it was a little bit.

387
00:21:27,549 –> 00:21:32,619
Maybe I should be more relaxed in this time, but at the
same time, I couldn’t, I, I absolutely wanted this ballet or

388
00:21:32,619 –> 00:21:36,939
they wanted to, to run after the things I didn’t learn yet.

389
00:21:36,939 –> 00:21:42,159
I had to learn so much and yeah, this
was my kind of like first big dream.

390
00:21:42,729 –> 00:21:44,949
And the second victory was, yeah, the contortion.

391
00:21:44,979 –> 00:21:45,789
Yes, you’re right.

392
00:21:46,149 –> 00:21:49,359
Or let’s say first the stage then
the ballet then the contortion.

393
00:21:49,749 –> 00:21:50,139
Yes.

394
00:21:51,509 –> 00:21:55,829
So maybe it was more kind of, you
discovered what really is your thing.

395
00:21:56,739 –> 00:21:56,889
Right.

396
00:21:56,919 –> 00:21:57,519
Exactly.

397
00:21:57,549 –> 00:21:58,249
That’s the process.

398
00:21:58,269 –> 00:21:58,329
Yeah.

399
00:22:01,368 –> 00:22:07,148
that feels very strong, because also you described
before you were not so self confident, but when

400
00:22:07,148 –> 00:22:09,758
you come back, you are so full of self-confidence.

401
00:22:09,758 –> 00:22:11,828
You still don’t have a show.

402
00:22:11,858 –> 00:22:13,718
You still don’t have the new audience.

403
00:22:13,748 –> 00:22:17,528
People know you for something else, but
you are actually the way I understood it.

404
00:22:17,528 –> 00:22:18,488
You didn’t have a doubt.

405
00:22:19,543 –> 00:22:25,043
Of course there were doubts because when you send your
video out to every director in this world and every

406
00:22:25,043 –> 00:22:30,653
teenager and stuff, and nothing really comes back except
of one answer, they say, I want to try it with you.

407
00:22:30,683 –> 00:22:37,223
This was my first management then of course you
think maybe I’m not yet there, but I felt maybe when

408
00:22:37,223 –> 00:22:42,493
I changed my act, which was pretty long, the video
I sent was about 10 minutes, which is way too long.

409
00:22:42,913 –> 00:22:44,053
And then.

410
00:22:44,858 –> 00:22:48,128
It doesn’t matter because you need
only one person believing in you.

411
00:22:48,548 –> 00:22:49,448
When you want to make it.

412
00:22:50,048 –> 00:22:51,398
You don’t need hundreds that love it.

413
00:22:51,398 –> 00:22:53,318
You in the beginning, one person is enough.

414
00:22:53,318 –> 00:22:58,778
So this person I had and through her,
I got a job in a casino in Portugal.

415
00:22:58,808 –> 00:23:01,628
They wanted me as a contortionist,
but they said, Nina, we love you.

416
00:23:01,628 –> 00:23:03,218
But your act is pretty slow.

417
00:23:03,218 –> 00:23:05,738
Can you maybe do something that fits more casino?

418
00:23:05,738 –> 00:23:10,838
You know, and this was the point that I thought, okay,
casino, you have three days to make a number of what I do.

419
00:23:11,738 –> 00:23:13,448
In this time was James Bond.

420
00:23:14,768 –> 00:23:15,578
very popular.

421
00:23:15,698 –> 00:23:19,238
And I said, oh, casino, maybe it should be a bond girl.

422
00:23:19,778 –> 00:23:22,688
The second thought was, which music can I take?

423
00:23:22,688 –> 00:23:27,668
So I did a connect call it collection of musics
from public James Bond to Tina Turner Goldeneye.

424
00:23:28,118 –> 00:23:30,968
And then I said, okay, Goldeneye, my costume must be golden.

425
00:23:31,418 –> 00:23:34,928
So this, this act was pretty fast that I invented it.

426
00:23:35,993 –> 00:23:37,223
And it’s weird.

427
00:23:37,283 –> 00:23:43,283
I think it was the most successful ever in this
short time I did this act and since then I went to

428
00:23:43,283 –> 00:23:49,403
festivals with it and this was the point where it
started to be successful because I had the right act

429
00:23:49,403 –> 00:23:52,253
for my skills and for what I could offer in this time.

430
00:23:53,183 –> 00:24:00,653
And I think by then I got confidence because first time in
my life, I was awarded with some festival prizes and stuff

431
00:24:00,653 –> 00:24:03,173
like that, which never happened as a dancer, as a dancer.

432
00:24:03,173 –> 00:24:05,783
I was always running after my technique and stuff like that.

433
00:24:06,233 –> 00:24:10,823
And it was pretty like, oh my God, maybe I’m
not that bad, you know, so it could, could work.

434
00:24:11,123 –> 00:24:12,223
And then.

435
00:24:13,103 –> 00:24:13,793
Yes.

436
00:24:13,793 –> 00:24:15,023
One came after the next.

437
00:24:15,023 –> 00:24:16,373
So I knew I’m in the right place.

438
00:24:16,403 –> 00:24:17,453
Now I’m in the right place.

439
00:24:17,513 –> 00:24:21,863
And in the right material, you say in English
or in French, the contortion is good for me.

440
00:24:22,073 –> 00:24:27,023
So this was actually the proof when it started to work,
because I had the right act to offer to the people.

441
00:24:27,733 –> 00:24:33,553
So yeah, kind of the confirmation that, what’s
what what’s bringing you onto this path.

442
00:24:33,583 –> 00:24:33,853
Okay.

443
00:24:33,913 –> 00:24:35,803
I like continue this path to the whiteboards.

444
00:24:36,563 –> 00:24:41,423
I think, um, for everybody that wants to make
it, somehow you have to analyze very strongly,

445
00:24:41,423 –> 00:24:43,973
what do I have to offer and what the people want.

446
00:24:44,453 –> 00:24:47,993
If this comes together and it fits, then you have success.

447
00:24:48,023 –> 00:24:53,333
If you have a great thing to offer and nobody
wants it or knows it, you cannot have success.

448
00:24:53,363 –> 00:24:58,343
Or if some people want something else from you that
you cannot offer, you will also not have success.

449
00:24:58,343 –> 00:25:01,103
So it has to be really that you analyze it a little bit.

450
00:25:01,463 –> 00:25:01,733
Okay.

451
00:25:01,733 –> 00:25:02,173
I want to do.

452
00:25:03,023 –> 00:25:03,953
I can do this.

453
00:25:03,983 –> 00:25:05,993
What, what is the offer I have?

454
00:25:05,993 –> 00:25:08,693
And you make a little package, which you have to sell.

455
00:25:08,723 –> 00:25:09,263
Otherwise.

456
00:25:09,953 –> 00:25:10,733
Nobody knows it.

457
00:25:10,733 –> 00:25:12,323
Nobody will buy you.

458
00:25:12,323 –> 00:25:14,183
And this is actually the business, which is sad.

459
00:25:14,183 –> 00:25:17,243
Sometimes people think, oh, I’m such a
good contortionists, or I’m such a good

460
00:25:17,483 –> 00:25:19,943
whatever lawyer and stuff, but nothing works.

461
00:25:20,123 –> 00:25:20,423
So that.

462
00:25:21,788 –> 00:25:25,868
There is one component in the process
that is not yet there where it should be.

463
00:25:26,768 –> 00:25:27,128
Yeah.

464
00:25:27,418 –> 00:25:27,598
Yeah.

465
00:25:27,658 –> 00:25:33,238
So basically you found the sweet spot in the
casino when they ask you between what you can do.

466
00:25:33,298 –> 00:25:39,358
And so what is asked of you, and then you had only a few
days time and you to make sure it had to get right, right.

467
00:25:39,358 –> 00:25:43,858
Offer for them or the right act that they are happy
that otherwise they would have not have the job

468
00:25:43,888 –> 00:25:48,298
because they said to me, we like you, but we cannot
take you with that act you have with that number.

469
00:25:48,913 –> 00:25:52,003
And that means, I said, yeah, of course
I have another act, which is not true.

470
00:25:52,243 –> 00:25:55,843
I just invented it by the time they asked
me, and then I sent the video two days

471
00:25:55,843 –> 00:25:58,063
later saying this is Mack, I’m a bond girl.

472
00:25:58,213 –> 00:25:59,533
And then they said, oh, this is great.

473
00:25:59,533 –> 00:26:00,553
This fits our casino.

474
00:26:00,883 –> 00:26:03,493
And then it started to work actually.

475
00:26:03,553 –> 00:26:06,403
Yes, that did the jobs there, the request.

476
00:26:07,703 –> 00:26:08,113
Great.

477
00:26:08,173 –> 00:26:13,213
What would you call the turning
point of, of, of in this whole story?

478
00:26:13,213 –> 00:26:19,663
Is it China or was it in the casino or what’s the other
turning points that were really important for you?

479
00:26:21,173 –> 00:26:22,883
The big confirmation.

480
00:26:22,973 –> 00:26:27,113
And for me, an unbelievable thing happened
when I did the casting show in the TV.

481
00:26:27,713 –> 00:26:29,843
This was two years after this James Bond act.

482
00:26:29,963 –> 00:26:35,963
And I had pretty much experienced then by then,
because I did that James Bond number a lot and then

483
00:26:35,963 –> 00:26:39,803
came a request from Swiss television, you know,
do you want to join a Switzerland called talent?

484
00:26:39,863 –> 00:26:44,833
And I was like, yeah, by this time it was a little, yeah.

485
00:26:46,013 –> 00:26:47,783
Not good for us artists to do it.

486
00:26:47,783 –> 00:26:49,193
We set amongst each other.

487
00:26:49,193 –> 00:26:51,533
We set on all casting shows are not good for us.

488
00:26:51,533 –> 00:26:52,193
We should not do it.

489
00:26:52,223 –> 00:26:54,413
We are professionals and not, yes.

490
00:26:54,863 –> 00:26:59,813
But I said to myself, accosting show can be a big chance
to be seen by a lot of people, which are never actually

491
00:26:59,813 –> 00:27:03,353
touching the surrogates or never touching the, our industry.

492
00:27:03,863 –> 00:27:06,593
And I just said, let’s see, I just do it.

493
00:27:06,593 –> 00:27:07,493
I cannot lose anything.

494
00:27:08,453 –> 00:27:11,843
So I signed in and I told him, yeah, I going to come.

495
00:27:11,843 –> 00:27:13,403
And then they gave me a day to perform.

496
00:27:13,403 –> 00:27:16,073
And then I did that and there was really not good at that.

497
00:27:16,133 –> 00:27:20,783
At that day, I felt almost sick because I had
another show and I was like, should I go or not?

498
00:27:21,173 –> 00:27:23,933
But luckily I did it because this
was actually my most success.

499
00:27:24,638 –> 00:27:28,478
I can say, I went second in this, in this whole competition.

500
00:27:28,508 –> 00:27:29,708
I second place.

501
00:27:30,098 –> 00:27:34,268
And in the end, it doesn’t really matter if you win or
not, because people have seen you so many times and either

502
00:27:34,268 –> 00:27:37,118
they love you or they don’t, but you have a big audience.

503
00:27:37,148 –> 00:27:39,698
And I think this was also the first time that I had.

504
00:27:41,228 –> 00:27:42,938
Let’s say my backpack was ready.

505
00:27:43,028 –> 00:27:48,218
I had a lot of skills in my backpack, my wheel
to, to go out there and show my stuff was ready

506
00:27:48,488 –> 00:27:53,768
and my performance was ready to make sure I can
now do my show professionally around the world.

507
00:27:54,338 –> 00:27:59,678
And I, the reason I say that is third winner
in this show was a singer, an opera singer.

508
00:27:59,678 –> 00:28:04,958
She was actually a bus driver, singing opera, like an
angel, really good, but she was unfortunately not ready.

509
00:28:05,288 –> 00:28:11,303
She was winning and then was kind of like,
Ooh, And by the time she wake up of this dream,

510
00:28:12,173 –> 00:28:14,843
this, the demand after her was already over.

511
00:28:14,843 –> 00:28:17,153
So when you do this show, you have a chance.

512
00:28:17,633 –> 00:28:24,713
And I think this was a turning point in, because I used to
this chance I went there, I did it, and it was a success.

513
00:28:24,713 –> 00:28:30,983
And this was the first time I had this really prove also,
uh, people like what I do, the normal people like it.

514
00:28:31,013 –> 00:28:31,393
And then.

515
00:28:32,783 –> 00:28:36,173
Yeah, it, it can give you so much, so much, or, or not.

516
00:28:36,773 –> 00:28:42,623
When I see the winner, now she’s still looking for her
way to go, but she had all the things, actually, she

517
00:28:42,623 –> 00:28:44,903
had it all, but she didn’t realize what to do with it.

518
00:28:44,993 –> 00:28:47,753
Every chance that comes along the way can be a chance to.

519
00:28:48,458 –> 00:28:52,328
On the, on the, on the train and
try fast, but you have to do it.

520
00:28:52,358 –> 00:28:57,278
And also this was a time when people told me, no,
you should not do a costing show is maybe not good.

521
00:28:57,278 –> 00:29:00,538
Maybe they, they make sure they,
they last about you or something.

522
00:29:00,698 –> 00:29:05,288
I said, I have to make sure I know, you know,
otherwise I, I will always ask myself if it will

523
00:29:05,288 –> 00:29:11,198
be the right thing and I’m happy I did it because
then I knew it was the right thing for me to do.

524
00:29:11,288 –> 00:29:13,008
And this was this turning point where.

525
00:29:13,878 –> 00:29:19,028
Let’s say my art, which is an art usually known
by circus performance, which are Chinese people.

526
00:29:19,418 –> 00:29:20,888
You see only in circus.

527
00:29:21,338 –> 00:29:27,338
I think I helped in Switzerland a little bit to make
sure that we are, as artists are seen as, as popular

528
00:29:27,338 –> 00:29:30,818
entertainment that you can book for galas events.

529
00:29:30,878 –> 00:29:35,318
And yeah, this is a good feeling that
you can do something for your people.

530
00:29:35,348 –> 00:29:38,888
Also, usually all these singers were winning
this show and I was always winning as a

531
00:29:38,888 –> 00:29:40,538
photojournalist, which is, which is cool.

532
00:29:41,483 –> 00:29:42,533
So cause before Ms.

533
00:29:42,563 –> 00:29:42,893
Yeah.

534
00:29:43,343 –> 00:29:44,453
And so when was that?

535
00:29:44,993 –> 00:29:45,623
Approximately?

536
00:29:46,343 –> 00:29:48,223
10 years ago, actually 10 years ago.

537
00:29:48,393 –> 00:29:51,443
So it was like three, four years into your career?

538
00:29:52,423 –> 00:29:54,133
I left China in 2008.

539
00:29:54,223 –> 00:29:54,883
Yes, you’re right.

540
00:29:54,883 –> 00:29:55,393
Four years ago.

541
00:29:56,378 –> 00:29:57,218
I see years later.

542
00:29:57,278 –> 00:30:01,358
And what was, I mean, again, you
did this second time, at least.

543
00:30:01,358 –> 00:30:05,648
So the second time that I hear it, that
everyone tells you, no, don’t do this.

544
00:30:05,648 –> 00:30:10,808
It’s not good for you, or you’re not going to be successful,
whatever it was now in this certain situation and you still

545
00:30:10,808 –> 00:30:14,528
did it, what what’s, what drove you to make this decision?

546
00:30:16,448 –> 00:30:19,358
I knew I can offer on the TV
television, something very cool.

547
00:30:19,358 –> 00:30:20,348
Which Switzerland doesn’t though.

548
00:30:21,338 –> 00:30:23,768
And I didn’t want to wait for somebody else doing it.

549
00:30:23,798 –> 00:30:25,568
So what holds me back to do it?

550
00:30:25,568 –> 00:30:26,318
I don’t have a reason.

551
00:30:26,468 –> 00:30:28,838
My manager was just, I was very shy.

552
00:30:28,868 –> 00:30:31,418
That’s why she said maybe you should wait.

553
00:30:31,508 –> 00:30:32,648
Maybe you should not do it.

554
00:30:32,648 –> 00:30:34,898
Maybe it could be a bad experience.

555
00:30:34,928 –> 00:30:36,368
Well, if you think like that, you should.

556
00:30:36,908 –> 00:30:40,688
You should not even go on there on the street because
it could be a bad experience crossing a street.

557
00:30:40,688 –> 00:30:42,278
You maybe a car comes.

558
00:30:42,698 –> 00:30:44,348
So I was convinced, okay.

559
00:30:44,438 –> 00:30:47,648
I just felt this inner voice says to me, I should do it.

560
00:30:47,648 –> 00:30:50,618
And it was not bad to listen to it since 2008.

561
00:30:50,618 –> 00:30:52,058
So I thought I have to do it, you know?

562
00:30:52,118 –> 00:30:54,938
And then the funny thing is when I became secondary.

563
00:30:55,658 –> 00:31:01,028
A year later, my manager, two years later, she was not
my manager anymore, but she sent all the people that she

564
00:31:01,028 –> 00:31:04,208
manages to do the show because she thought Nina made it.

565
00:31:04,208 –> 00:31:05,528
So you guys have to make it too.

566
00:31:05,738 –> 00:31:09,038
But which is a little bit ridiculous
because everyone is not the same person.

567
00:31:09,038 –> 00:31:11,108
So some people don’t want to do this.

568
00:31:11,108 –> 00:31:15,448
Don’t want to have exposure like this in front
of a jury, which is not even professionally

569
00:31:15,458 –> 00:31:17,168
to, she read us know about circus.

570
00:31:17,198 –> 00:31:21,368
Of course you should know for yourself, if it’s
the right thing, I don’t recommend it for everyone.

571
00:31:21,368 –> 00:31:21,758
So.

572
00:31:25,353 –> 00:31:32,043
So, what do you think, like you’ve experienced a lot
of things and you’re a high performer in your art.

573
00:31:32,133 –> 00:31:33,843
And so do something very special.

574
00:31:33,903 –> 00:31:35,093
And I believe that.

575
00:31:36,128 –> 00:31:41,948
People like you, they can, can translate
what their art is into other areas of life.

576
00:31:42,638 –> 00:31:49,088
So into other aspects of anyone who’s, high-performing
in what they do, you can learn from them when it

577
00:31:49,088 –> 00:31:55,388
comes to when you see your friends who are not
artists, for example, or people that are not artists

578
00:31:55,568 –> 00:31:57,698
from all walks of life could be from business.

579
00:31:57,728 –> 00:31:59,528
It could be from politics.

580
00:31:59,528 –> 00:32:00,668
It could be from anything.

581
00:32:00,698 –> 00:32:01,508
What do you think.

582
00:32:02,273 –> 00:32:09,023
It is that you, as an individual can share
from your story, but also from, from, from

583
00:32:09,023 –> 00:32:12,443
your art, what can other people learn from it?

584
00:32:12,943 –> 00:32:20,503
Daring things therein to, to believe in you and
your skills and not always listen to everybody else

585
00:32:20,503 –> 00:32:26,713
because sometimes your inner voice is very strong and
very, or also also silent, but it’s there and people.

586
00:32:28,013 –> 00:32:32,393
They have all the apps on their phones and they tell
the apps, tell them what to do every single day.

587
00:32:32,633 –> 00:32:38,603
But I believe there is another app other side, which
is the side go inside of you and listen, what is there?

588
00:32:38,603 –> 00:32:42,343
Because there’s so many things
and we, this inner voice and this.

589
00:32:42,923 –> 00:32:44,183
This guidance.

590
00:32:44,663 –> 00:32:50,393
So we rather learn a rather go to the doctor,
giving us pills to do, to re recover from something,

591
00:32:50,393 –> 00:32:52,373
instead of saying, okay, why did this happen?

592
00:32:52,433 –> 00:33:02,263
You know, like questioning things and yes, things
not only blind doing what everybody else says, but

593
00:33:02,263 –> 00:33:04,573
also a little bit step back and reflect, you know?

594
00:33:04,573 –> 00:33:09,133
And then, you know, it’s usually the
answer, but sometimes you, you don’t try.

595
00:33:10,058 –> 00:33:15,038
Your your strength and that you can do it or
so, so I think I can teach those people that

596
00:33:15,068 –> 00:33:21,608
are normal people or people in normal jobs with
my experiences a little bit more to do that.

597
00:33:22,908 –> 00:33:25,188
You talk a lot now about inner voice.

598
00:33:25,218 –> 00:33:32,808
Is there specific methods how you cultivated it in the
past, or is it something that you just had inside of you?

599
00:33:33,908 –> 00:33:37,448
When I start my training, when I
start my training, now I’m very much.

600
00:33:38,333 –> 00:33:43,973
Excited because I had so many things happening in
one day that first of all, everything is in my brain.

601
00:33:44,003 –> 00:33:44,393
Okay.

602
00:33:44,753 –> 00:33:49,553
My training takes about three to four hours, which sounds
a lot, but it’s a lot of training, like very slow training.

603
00:33:49,553 –> 00:33:57,723
So it’s not like a sprint or something that means from
this big things in my head, I transfer my, my thoughts

604
00:33:57,723 –> 00:34:00,323
a little bit into energy that goes into it, buddy.

605
00:34:00,333 –> 00:34:02,453
And then I feel very much connected.

606
00:34:02,873 –> 00:34:08,573
That means people nowadays, they sit all day, they
go home and they sit because they eat their dinner.

607
00:34:08,633 –> 00:34:13,163
They go in front of the television, they
still sit and still only nourish their brains.

608
00:34:13,583 –> 00:34:19,033
And I think we have to learn to more
go into our bodies and discover things.

609
00:34:20,048 –> 00:34:23,558
Because when I have a lot of sorts and
a lot of maybe also negative thoughts or

610
00:34:23,558 –> 00:34:25,508
negative or positive, it doesn’t matter.

611
00:34:25,838 –> 00:34:30,188
And a lot of things only now you have to do this
and that, oh, tomorrow is that day or tomorrow.

612
00:34:30,878 –> 00:34:34,718
Then suddenly you have to start a
little bit breathing and calm down.

613
00:34:34,928 –> 00:34:38,498
And people normally do that with alcohol
or a cigarette or going out as friends.

614
00:34:38,738 –> 00:34:40,538
But this is still an aspect that.

615
00:34:41,378 –> 00:34:48,098
Ex exterior, exterior entertainment, or you do
some, you do not something good for your body,

616
00:34:48,278 –> 00:34:53,528
but when you move, when you start learning
about your body, let’s say, example is yoga.

617
00:34:53,558 –> 00:34:54,158
Good example.

618
00:34:55,508 –> 00:34:58,958
I think then you can discover much
more what your body tells you.

619
00:34:59,288 –> 00:35:02,108
It sounds a little bit esoteric,
but it’s really, really true.

620
00:35:02,168 –> 00:35:03,158
I’m not the same person.

621
00:35:03,158 –> 00:35:04,268
When I start my training.

622
00:35:04,358 –> 00:35:06,578
As when I enter my training, I’m very calm.

623
00:35:06,578 –> 00:35:12,968
And sometimes 50% of the things I was busy with in my head
in the beginning of my training are not even important

624
00:35:12,968 –> 00:35:16,928
anymore because I know tomorrow is another day I can do it.

625
00:35:17,318 –> 00:35:17,888
It’s okay.

626
00:35:18,338 –> 00:35:25,073
And I know also when I did my trip, What my skills are, and
this gives me a lot of strength to say, I have my skills.

627
00:35:25,103 –> 00:35:25,643
This is okay.

628
00:35:25,643 –> 00:35:26,123
It’s enough.

629
00:35:27,023 –> 00:35:27,383
Yeah.

630
00:35:28,298 –> 00:35:28,438
Yeah.

631
00:35:28,478 –> 00:35:35,738
So kind of you bring from your head, everything goes down
into your body and at the same time, your self confidence

632
00:35:35,738 –> 00:35:40,228
again, rises through the yes, it’s con it makes to calmer.

633
00:35:40,348 –> 00:35:43,108
That’s why I recommend moving that people should dance.

634
00:35:43,108 –> 00:35:48,868
They should go show to do jokings in the, in the woods or
whatever things that you do for yourself and your body.

635
00:35:49,108 –> 00:35:53,248
I think this can help a lot too,
to calm down and to, to forget it.

636
00:35:53,248 –> 00:35:53,848
Not as I forget.

637
00:35:54,788 –> 00:36:00,338
The things that you’re busy with, that you make your energy
stop, maybe because your energy is very tense sometimes

638
00:36:00,338 –> 00:36:06,458
in your job that you can calm down a little bit more
relaxed because everything I do when I’m not relaxed, I

639
00:36:06,458 –> 00:36:14,528
cannot bend my body or fold my body as I do when I’m very
much intention in the first hour of my training, I could

640
00:36:14,528 –> 00:36:17,588
not, I not the same as in the fourth hours where I’m.

641
00:36:18,833 –> 00:36:23,483
And this guy, the softness goes from the brain into
the, into the legs and into everywhere, everywhere.

642
00:36:23,513 –> 00:36:26,483
So it’s very important to the process.

643
00:36:26,483 –> 00:36:28,703
It doesn’t have to be four hours a day for a normal person.

644
00:36:28,703 –> 00:36:31,223
Of course, some people call it meditation.

645
00:36:31,253 –> 00:36:33,563
They sit there and they go inside
themselves and they breathe.

646
00:36:34,433 –> 00:36:35,693
But I have to experience it.

647
00:36:35,693 –> 00:36:39,323
A lot of people cannot do that because
they even more half brain thoughts.

648
00:36:39,323 –> 00:36:44,333
Then when I do that and sit there and are even more
intention, because I think I just sit here and do nothing.

649
00:36:44,483 –> 00:36:44,933
Oh my God.

650
00:36:45,893 –> 00:36:49,793
You know, it’s, it’s, it’s very, very
difficult to teach somebody that is never

651
00:36:49,793 –> 00:36:52,793
doing something with its body to go there.

652
00:36:53,843 –> 00:36:59,083
Well, I’d just say, try, try some sports that you like,
that you can see the difference you were basically

653
00:36:59,083 –> 00:37:02,953
went on to this new path 13 years ago, 14 years ago.

654
00:37:03,613 –> 00:37:12,253
And just imagine yourself now in 13 years from
now, looking back, that’s a, the pandemic.

655
00:37:13,173 –> 00:37:15,153
What had changed for you in your life?

656
00:37:15,813 –> 00:37:23,703
And it also sounded a bit like you are now also perhaps
moving on to a next stage in your life, in your career.

657
00:37:23,823 –> 00:37:32,673
So if you imagine yourself 13 years from now thinking
of this time, 2020, the pandemic, you calmed down 2021,

658
00:37:33,683 –> 00:37:36,803
from that perspective, what do you think has been.

659
00:37:37,643 –> 00:37:37,973
Yeah.

660
00:37:38,303 –> 00:37:38,963
Oh my God.

661
00:37:39,413 –> 00:37:45,943
I hope in 13 years I have fallen something that is
of course, less physical and still making me very

662
00:37:45,943 –> 00:37:48,943
happy body work will always be involved in my life.

663
00:37:48,973 –> 00:37:49,603
That’s for sure.

664
00:37:49,633 –> 00:37:55,783
I cannot live without moving, but of course not in the
extent that not even Intermountain, I’m doing it now because

665
00:37:55,783 –> 00:37:59,893
now four hours a day is full profession and performing.

666
00:37:59,983 –> 00:38:00,463
I give myself.

667
00:38:01,193 –> 00:38:03,503
I always plan for two years, two more years.

668
00:38:03,923 –> 00:38:04,853
That means I left.

669
00:38:04,943 –> 00:38:08,933
I lost a lot already one and a half a
year with the Corona crisis pandemic.

670
00:38:08,963 –> 00:38:14,783
So I hope that I can do this for
until 45 healthy and happily then.

671
00:38:16,268 –> 00:38:23,708
I hope I can still be on stage, but maybe with a little bit
more other aspects, like a speech speeches, speaker, a host.

672
00:38:24,038 –> 00:38:29,798
I have a, an offer as for a host job in television
from Switzerland, which is very interesting.

673
00:38:29,798 –> 00:38:30,908
So I’m going to maybe present.

674
00:38:30,998 –> 00:38:35,708
It’s not sure yet, but I’m going to maybe
present cultural scenes is, could be a way to go.

675
00:38:35,708 –> 00:38:38,838
That is very interesting for me to,
to bring the art I’m actually living.

676
00:38:39,833 –> 00:38:41,063
So the people, what happens?

677
00:38:41,063 –> 00:38:42,833
What, what, what, what can they see every single day?

678
00:38:42,833 –> 00:38:44,663
He said, music is a theater or something like that.

679
00:38:45,203 –> 00:38:50,123
And yeah, in 13 years, I hope I’m still
happy with my, my boyfriend or my husband.

680
00:38:50,123 –> 00:38:57,443
And I gonna look back and say, admin established
woman in whatever I, I love to do, because I think

681
00:38:57,443 –> 00:38:59,933
that’s the most important to love what you do.

682
00:39:00,013 –> 00:39:00,893
Doesn’t matter what it is.

683
00:39:04,663 –> 00:39:11,053
So, um, I mean, you’ve talked a lot about paradigms
already in a way throughout our conversation.

684
00:39:11,443 –> 00:39:16,423
Is there any other paradigms that you want
to add that you think need to be challenged?

685
00:39:16,423 –> 00:39:21,943
So definitely you talked about what people believe in that
they can achieve at the certain age and things like that.

686
00:39:22,003 –> 00:39:28,383
At least when it comes to the body, the mind, or
other aspects of life, basically, that you feel.

687
00:39:28,978 –> 00:39:34,378
People really should challenge these paradigms
that we have in society and the world.

688
00:39:36,108 –> 00:39:42,588
I think everything, every change has to start
somewhere, but I think we should, as an, as a company,

689
00:39:43,373 –> 00:39:46,463
As people, every country should start with the kids.

690
00:39:46,703 –> 00:39:49,523
Kids are nowadays not moving anymore.

691
00:39:49,643 –> 00:39:50,573
And it starts to problem.

692
00:39:50,573 –> 00:39:51,563
Start there already.

693
00:39:52,013 –> 00:39:54,263
They are not well-balanced inside their bodies.

694
00:39:54,263 –> 00:39:56,543
They’re always like too much with their energy.

695
00:39:56,543 –> 00:39:58,613
They cannot go anywhere because they don’t move.

696
00:39:59,723 –> 00:40:02,243
They have to sit in class all day long learning things.

697
00:40:02,243 –> 00:40:05,573
But where is the, where is the gymnastic class or to move?

698
00:40:06,083 –> 00:40:06,323
And I think.

699
00:40:06,933 –> 00:40:13,713
We have to find a way that the program for these
kids is already so well balanced that as when they

700
00:40:13,713 –> 00:40:19,503
are adults, that they know about their bodies,
as much as they know mathematics or languages.

701
00:40:20,433 –> 00:40:24,543
And I always say, I always say, Hey, do you know
any politician that knows to knew her hands?

702
00:40:25,403 –> 00:40:27,953
And people don’t have, of course,
no, to say yes, of course not.

703
00:40:28,073 –> 00:40:28,493
Why?

704
00:40:28,703 –> 00:40:29,483
Because they should do.

705
00:40:29,483 –> 00:40:31,903
And then every single day, this is the same.

706
00:40:31,963 –> 00:40:36,073
This is the same skill level that
you should have, like the brain.

707
00:40:36,313 –> 00:40:42,073
And I think this could be an aspect that we should
work on to educate the people in a way that they

708
00:40:42,073 –> 00:40:44,773
get back to their bodies at a very early age.

709
00:40:45,163 –> 00:40:48,103
And we sh we could avoid a lot of violence in this world.

710
00:40:49,013 –> 00:40:53,213
A lot of people that are, don’t know where to go
with their energy, don’t have a goal in their life.

711
00:40:53,243 –> 00:40:56,963
I think when you move your body,
you suddenly maybe have a hobby.

712
00:40:56,993 –> 00:41:01,613
You suddenly maybe go to football class or
do you go to gymnastics or you go to ballet,

713
00:41:01,643 –> 00:41:04,073
whatever it is, you have a goal maybe.

714
00:41:04,073 –> 00:41:06,263
And, and the, and something that guides you.

715
00:41:07,103 –> 00:41:11,963
I see a lot of kids that have, they don’t have that
anymore, especially through the Corona crisis and pandemic.

716
00:41:12,643 –> 00:41:14,863
They lost completely where they want to go.

717
00:41:15,043 –> 00:41:16,153
And this is very dangerous.

718
00:41:16,153 –> 00:41:20,653
I think this is more dangerous than having
Corona to not know what’s going on in my life.

719
00:41:20,683 –> 00:41:21,673
Where do I want to go?

720
00:41:21,763 –> 00:41:23,203
I might actually worse anything.

721
00:41:23,713 –> 00:41:28,923
And all these questions should ask we as a
population should work very hard on that.

722
00:41:32,308 –> 00:41:33,478
My final question.

723
00:41:33,538 –> 00:41:39,898
I always like to ask, um, new look back, not now
from 13 years from now, but a hundred years from now.

724
00:41:39,928 –> 00:41:42,178
Maybe not you, but your children or grandchildren.

725
00:41:42,928 –> 00:41:44,228
And when they talk about.

726
00:41:45,363 –> 00:41:48,753
So what, what do you want people to remember you for?

727
00:41:49,643 –> 00:41:49,883
Okay.

728
00:41:49,943 –> 00:41:56,753
Maybe she showed to the world that at the age of 90,
you can still do a split and you can still do a bridge.

729
00:41:57,893 –> 00:42:03,533
She showed the world that it’s never too late to move
your body and to believe in your skills and your dreams.

730
00:42:04,463 –> 00:42:04,883
Yes.

731
00:42:06,503 –> 00:42:07,313
Thank you very much.

732
00:42:07,313 –> 00:42:08,903
It was very inspiring conversation.

733
00:42:09,323 –> 00:42:09,923
Thank you.

734
00:42:10,583 –> 00:42:11,513
I wish you a great day.

735
00:42:12,083 –> 00:42:12,503
You too.

736
00:42:12,503 –> 00:42:13,013
Bye.

737
00:42:16,770 –> 00:42:20,970
Thank you for staying tuned for this
edition of challenging paradigm X.

738
00:42:21,450 –> 00:42:25,710
If you like this episode, if Nina blurry
feel free to share it with your community.

739
00:42:25,710 –> 00:42:28,380
So Nina’s message gets spread even further.

740
00:42:29,070 –> 00:42:31,770
In the show notes, you will find the links to her work.

741
00:42:32,550 –> 00:42:35,220
Please hit subscribe and rate my podcast.

742
00:42:35,220 –> 00:42:35,550
If you like.

743
00:42:36,725 –> 00:42:42,265
I’d be also very glad if you write me a review,
if any questions or comments, feel free to

744
00:42:42,265 –> 00:42:48,835
contact me next week, we’re up with the next
edition of challenging paradigm X until then.

745
00:42:48,865 –> 00:42:50,545
I wish you a great week.

 

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