A contortion act is more than just the poses
Learning tricks in contortion is also more than just the poses themselves. The transition, as well as the execution of the trick are just as important as the static pose itself. It is all of these elements woven together and executed in a way that looks effortless that creates the magic of a contortion performance.
A lot of contortion poses overlap in their requirements which is why starting with the foundations is key. Once you have mastered some core poses you will find that other more intermediate poses become accessible. The key to learning new poses are progressions. Every pose can be broken down into smaller chunks or a less advanced version. Doing this means you can make small and measured improvements when learning new contortion poses.