Every day is full of twists and turns for Winmalee 12-year-old Jessica Peters - and the rising star contortionist is making the most of them.
The Year 7 Winmalee High School student is a talented dancer who first discovered the world of circus aerial arts when she joined PAWS dance studio in Penrith at age seven.
At 10 she was selected to perform aerial acrobatics on silks and a lyra (suspended hoop) at the School Spectacular in Sydney with three high school students.
But it was only a year ago that she first tried her hand at contortion when her impressive flexibility and knack for acrobatics was spotted by internationally-regarded contortionist performer and coach Jasmine Straga.
With a keen attitude and more than 25 hours of practice each week, her progress has been remarkable.
Jessica performed as a contortionist during the last school holidays in two shows with Circus Avalon under the big top in Newcastle, wowing the audience on the aerial sling and with complicated manoeuvres with names like 'the head seat', 'bridge with legs in a double stag' and 'the triple fold'.
"That's where your legs are bent, then your knees and then your head goes through," she said.
"I like the buzz of performing in front of an audience and that (the Newcastle shows) was the biggest one for me so far.
"Nothing went wrong there, but if something goes wrong you just have to make it look like nothing went wrong and move on."
Jessica began this month by attending the Australian Contortion Convention and competing in the Australian Circus Challenge held at PAWS' Penrith studio, where she performed two routines in the pre-professional junior division and placed first and second.
She also had the thrill of meeting 16-year-old American contortionist sensation Jordan McKnight and veteran performer Christine Danton.
The huge Cirque Du Soleil fan is currently fundraising so she can have the opportunity to train next July with Dance Extensions Performing Arts Centre in Pennsylvania and Le Petit Cirque in California.
"I enjoy working towards something and achieving it," Jessica said.
"There's so many more contortionist moves I can learn."