Today we’d like to introduce you to Tori Kubick
Hi Tori, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am still in the midst of officially reallocating my business and home base to South Carolina. It is a work in progress, but finally a dream that is coming in to fruition… I have performed off and on down in South Carolina for a decade, and it has always felt like home.
I started as a timid, insecure, 19 year old dancer, who really wanted to be a contortionist. Everyone would tell me it was too late and doubted my dreams, I shirked them and hopped on a plane and then later a horseback to make it all the way to the remote birthplace of contortion, Mongolia. My full-grown womanly body was morphed and congealed day after day as I studied with the dedicated class of five year olds.
I kept pushing the odds, and for the past decade plus, I have toured the world with Cirque du Soleil, performed for Team USA, opened for Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Walk the Moon, and was seen on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Recently I also set a Guinness World Record.
During the past few years, I started producing my own acts/performances/shows for high end weddings/corporate events. As well as sharing the art of flexibilty with yogis looking to take it to the next level, young dancers, and everyday people looking for a stronger mind and a more flexible body.
I love collaborating with other wellness brands and small businesses, party planners, and soon would also love to have my own stand up paddle board fitness classes.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not even close. I love performing and practicing balance and flexibility, primarily on the water, because it feels like returning to home. We are around 70 percent water, so being on the water can be challenging, but in some twisted way, it also feels settling and rejuvenating.
-In the early days, I was bullied, told over and over again that I was stupid and couldn’t start training intensely as an adult…
-When I was learning how to breathe in really uncomfortable positions, I accidentally blacked out and started convulsing, because I panicked and stopped breathing.
-I had financial struggles in the early days.
-Self-doubt would constantly creep into my carry on with me
But …
I love to emulate water, we should be strong, yet flexible and fluid, in a state of constant flux.
As they say, water is soft, yet resilient enough to carve through rock.
We learn to let go. We learn to go with the flow. but that doesn’t mean we are being lazy. That means we are fine tuning deeply within and feeling the vibrations. We knowing when to paddle, when to surrender, and when we can utilize the wave to hitch a ride. It is all about momentum…
But in the beginning… we are treading water on a riptide. It is utterly exhausting when we first start. But if it is something that we wake up with a burning passion to do, and our core shakes with desire for it, I believe we should do whatever it takes to stay afloat!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In show business/the performance world… I was taught and had it ingrained in me, that at 30 your career terminates, if you have kids … after it is all down hill and you can’t return. I was taught that if you’re training dance, the only goals are broadway or a backup dancer, and if you can’t achieve that, you are nothing… But there are so many categories, genres, avenues, that I never knew existed till I kept honing my craft with an unwavering desire to do the impossible.
As a 31 year old, I can say I feel much better physically and mentally than I did when I was a kid, teen, young adult… So it is my mission to change that narrative, to keep working on ourselves, to keep training loving our bodies and minds post 30, post kids, we can reinvent ourselves later on, and be stronger than ever!
I am known for being flexible and strong, for performances and shows, but more importantly for being a calmness connoisseur.
The meditation techniques I learned while training intense contortion in Mongolia, can apply to everyone. I like to BC (before contortion) I was riddled with anxiety and extremely insecure. After contortion … I am happy, balanced, connected, and a strong beautiful work in progress.
I blend performance/show business and wellness… which often are contrasting genres.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success seems like an external thing. It seems like a black and white formula. If you achieve xyz… you are deemed successful….
But it is the most bespoke thing ever. It encompasses all the shades of grey, hell all the shades in the rainbow, flipped upside down, utilizing all 360 degrees. Success has endless flavors.
Success is not stagnant either … it is flowing. It is setting a goal, reaching it, and then discovering that you also achieved a goal you never even could have dreamed of as a little girl or boy, because your mind wasn’t even capable to make something that magical up.
It isn’t when you realize that you’ve done it … it is when you realize you are doing it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ConTORItion.com
- Instagram: @con_tori_tion
- Youtube: @torikubick3840
