The Extreme World of Contortionists

A contortion is an unusual form of physical display which involves the bending and flexing of the human body beyond it's limits. So a contortionist is a person who practices this physical form of exercise as either a profession or leisure. Flexibility is key here as the major part of the body mostly involved is the backbone.

A Contortionist can fit into a travelling bag, a small box, refrigerator, tennis racket, toilet seats, washing machine or even a sink. A non professional can only bend forward a little -cannot go beyond that. That, in fact, is very easy for most people. But a pro will leave us in awe!

A Perfect Back Flip

This bending is like 90 degrees from the point of start. It gets weird and extreme when a contortionist bends backward. It takes all the vertebrae to adjust to the pressure coming from the bone nodes as it slides into one another creating room for squeeze and flexibility, which gives them the ability to bend their backbone in a jaw-opening performance. At times they can go beyond 360 degrees. A non-professional who tries this could have his backbone snap resulting in serious injuries. PLEASE DON'T TRY THIS!!!

They Can Fit Into Refrigerators

For a Pro, squeeze sitting is a more than easy

Bending the delicate back bone is even easier for a contortionist.

A contortionist may perform alone, may have one or two assistants, or up to four contortionist may perform together as a group. In the past, contortionist were associated almost exclusively with circuses and fairs, but recently they have also found work performing in nightclubs, amusement parks, in magazine advertisement, at trade shows, on television variety shows, in music videos and as warm up acts. They begin performing from a very tender age and as a result of this, the shape of their backbone is trained to fit into what it is. Contortion could either be 'backbending', 'frontbending', 'splits and oversplits', 'Enterology'.

It's another performance

A perfect backbend