and several more advanced feats that should be
attempted only after thorough physical preparation.

(2) _High-Kicking exercises_; including all the so-called "legmania"
varieties of dancing, which are best acquired by thorough preparation
of the body in the Ned Wayburn foundation technique and studious
attention to the drill in the Ned Wayburn Americanized ballet
technique.

All of the acrobatic dancing tricks that are properly classified under
bending exercises have for their foundation the back bend and the hand
stand, as they are called, both of which must be mastered absolutely
before attempting other and more complicated acrobatic exercises.

I want to go on record with the emphatic statement that acrobatic
dancing must not be attempted except by those who are entirely and
absolutely physically fit. The acrobatic dancer must possess unusual
strength in the arms, in order that the weight of the body may be
safely supported; and there must be strength and flexibility of the
waist muscles and the abdominal muscles, and of all the muscles of the
back and shoulders, to enable the performer to execute the front and
back bends and their companion strenuous exercises. First, the pupil
must have an unusual adaptability to this type of dancing, and then
must prepare carefully and properly in advance of entering upon the
real work of the course.

The best development comes from our limbering and stretching
exercises. There is nothing else like it nor anything equally as good
as a foundation for all types of dancing, and it is especially needed
by the amateur entering upon an acrobatic dancing career. We have put
literally thousands of pupils through this course, and every student
of our acrobatic dancing classes who has taken this essential
preliminary course has come through in fine shape.

You must be extremely careful if you have or ever have had any
abdominal trouble. You must get the abdomen strengthened before you
undertake any acrobatic work. If you have had an operation for
peritonitis, appendicitis, hernia, or elsewhere in the abdominal
cavity or region, you must, out of consideration for your own health,
avoid any violent bending exercise. This does not imply that you
should not exercise properly. You should, for it is easily possible to
strengthen the tender muscles into a normal condition by suitable and
systematic exercises.

Try this test: Lie flat on your back on the floor. Now, without aid of
the hand