• Allen, Thomas B. and Conger, Dean (photographer). "Time catches up with Mongolia." National Geographic, Feb. 1985 (vol. 167, no. 2), p. 255. [Photo of two backbending women in Mongolian State Circus.]
  
• Andersen, Richard. The most exciting years of show business. Philadelphia : Dorrance, 1974. [The autobiography of a Vaudeville frontbender.]
  
• "Bodies of inspiration" Women's Sports and Fitness. Sept./Oct. 1998, v.1 [issue 11], p. 116. 10 p. [Photo essay on six athletic women, including two photos and short interview with "Spanish web" contortionist Isabelle Chasse.]
  
• Body Play magazine, #5, Spring 1993 (vol. 2, no. 1). [25 B&W contortion photos.]
  
• Body Play magazine, #8, Winter 1994 (vol. 2, no. 4). [5 photos and information about Ula Mattheson.]
  
• Bouvier, Patrice. Photographs by Patrice Bouvier, text by Roland Topor. Les contorsionnistes Paris: Editions du Collectionneur, c1993. 75 p.: ill. Photos from the book.
  
• Brusso, Andrew, photog. "Little big top." Entertainment Weekly, issue no. 180 (July 23, 1993), pp. 70-71. [The children that perform in the Ringling Bros. circus, including acrobat Olga Pikhienko posing, and Bai Jie and Shuai Xi with the barrels they use in their contortion act.]
  
• China Reconstructs, Mar. 1982, pp. 66-8, 73. [Color image of girl performing backbend on top of stacked tables while balancing bowls on page 67. Color image of girl performing splits while balanced during bicycle act on page 73.]
  
• Chinese Acrobatics. = L'Acrobatic chinoise = Akrobati ya Kichina. Peking : Foreign Language Press, 1974. [106 p. of photos; about 10 of acrobats in splits or backbends.]
  
• "The Circus." Kid's Discover, Jan. 1992, p. 1-2. [Large color photo of Mongolian girl performing a Marinelli bend.]
  
• "A Countryside Primary School's Acrobatic Team." China Pictorial, Feb. 1978, pp. 16-7. [Color image of practicing girl acrobat in handstand backbend on page 16.]
  
• "Creative Acrobatics." China Pictorial, May 1982, pp. 43-5. [Color image of "Flying Angels" performed by twin sisters Xu Hongyan and Xu Hong'e on page 44. Color image of unnamed acrobat performing "Balancing Bowls" on page 45.]
  
• Dance Scope, Vol. 14, No. 3, 1980. [Harriet Hoctor, ballet dancer, performs backbend on point as the Fairy Doll from production "A La Carte" circa 1929. Image is on the cover.]
  
• Erh Sze, Li Shu and Li-Lan Ying (photographers). "Tienchiauo Acrobats." China Pictorial, Oct. 1958, pp. 32-3. [Color image of female acrobat Chu Li-Ying performing handstand backbend on page 33.]
  
• "Four little girls that fold." New York Magazine, Apr. 22, 1991, p. 28. [Cirque du Soleil; 4 color photos.]
  
• "The greatest show in India." Life. v. 14, p. 48-57. [Photo of 5 girls from contortion act standing normally, but has biographical text about them on p. 5.]
  
• Gu Feng and Chang Suqin (photographer). "Chinese acrobatics comes out of its shell." China Pictorial, Jul. 1986, pp. 33-5. [Color image of Li Liping in mouth supported Marinelli bend on page 34.]
  
• Harris, Leon. "Tomorrow's circus: the annual Cirque de Demain, in Paris, sorts out the stars of the future." Connoisseur, Vol. 215, Nov. 1985, pp. 114-9. [B&W image of Sarah, a French contortionist performing a chest supported backbend on page 114.]
  
• Hedgecoe, John, and A. Knopf. The Book of Photography, New York: Knopf, 1984. [Photo of young back-bending girl; p. 12]
  
• Hedgecoe, John.The Photographer's Sourcebook of Creative Ideas, [Same girl, different pose; p. 111.]
  
• Hirn, Sven. Sirkus Kiertaa Suomea 1800-1914. S.K.S., 1982. [Photo of girl doing handstand backbend, front view; p. 157.]
  
• Hopkins, T. "Cantonese Style Thrills, Chills, and Double Spills." Maclean's, Sep. 15, 1980, pp. 62-3. [Color image of backbending girl balancing jars of water on her head on page 62.]
  
• Hubler, Richard G. The Christianis. Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1966. [Many circus photos but none with contortion. The circus family started children of circus families into the circus with contortion exercises; Chita Christiani remembers almost touching the two ends of her backbone until she was six; p. 91.]
  
• Keeling, John Gilbert. Art of acrobatic dancing. Oklahoma City: H.R. Stephens, 1929. [A photo collection of limber poses to start or end artistic dances.]
  
• > Louis, Michael. Contortionists. Wuppertal: Europa Verlag, 1974-8. 2 vols. Chiefly illus. Vol. 1 in English and French; Vol. 2 in English, French and German. [Several hundred photographs of male and female contortionists of all ages.] **ALERT** (as of October 20, 2001): The publisher has a few copies of each volume available for sale. Contact Michel L. Poignant for prices and details at mpoignant@cosmeco.com.
  
• Life, December 20, 1950 ? [Incorrect date - has anyone found this one? Rudolph Del Monte packed into 19 1/4 inch cube.]
  
• Life, October 1988, p. 101. [Nice color photo of Angela Laurier, Cirque du Soleil.]
  
• Mark, Mary Ellen. Indian circus. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1993. 107 p. : chiefly illus. [Collection of black/white photographs taken at several circuses in India. Various acts including several of young female contortionists. Includes interviews with the subjects of the photographs.]The full text and photos of the book are at http://www.maryellenmark.com/INDEX/BOOK/ICIRCUS/ICBI0O2.html
  
• National Examiner (tabloid), Oct. 30, 1990, p. 17. [Acrobatic exhibition in Munich; nice B&W photo of Sarah Beauchesne.]
  
• On the edge : Images from 100 Years of Vogue, pp. 162-163. [Veruschka on her back with feet behind head.] Same as in: Vogue, May 1972.
  
• "Presenting the Circus of the Sun." Time, May 30, 1988, v. 131, p. 66. [Cirque du Soleil.]
  
• "Pretzel girl: tumbler defies laws of both physics and anatomy." Life, Jun. 14, 1943, pp. 64-6. [Article is about Bonnie Nebelong, a known contortionist. Article has photos but none show extreme flexibility.]
  
• Rasquin, Gerd. International Gymnast. March 1990. Contortion trainer Gerd Rasquin issued a challenge to find the most flexible gymnast, with his photo of Ivanka; the contest was "won" by Lisa Lavella demonstrating a 270 degree split in: International Gymnast, June 1990 .]
  
• "Redhead." Life, August 16, 1937, p. 88. [Donette Schley, alias Donette De Lys. 6 B&W photos.]
  
• Sloan, Mark, Roger Manley and Michelle Van Parys. Dear Mr. Ripley: a compendium of curioddities from the Believe It or Not! archives. Boston: Little, Brown, c1993. 207 p. : ill. [One chapter is devoted to photos of flexibility stunts.]
  
• Sloan, Mark, Roger Manley and Michelle Van Parys. Hoaxes, humbugs and spectacles: astonishing photographs of smelt wrestlers, human projectiles, giant hailstones, contortionists, elephant impersonators, and much, much more! New York: Villard Books, 1990. 162 p. : ill. [No contortionists except a photo of a fat man doing splits.]
  
• "Speaking of pictures: Famous rubber men and limber jims are filed for the future by a contortion fan," Life, Jun. 9, 1952, p. 18-19. [6 photos of male performers from the Burns Kattenberg collection.]
  
• Staub, Christian. Circus. John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd.: London, 1957. [B&W image of the Colbergs, an act from Circus Knie, on page 37.]
  
• "Stretching a point." People magazine, Feb. 17, 1992. [Almost the whole article is dedicated to Angela Laurier of Cirque du Soleil. No photos.]
  
• Sun (tabloid), Jun. 4, 1991 (vol. 9, no. 23), p. 11. [Article and 4 big photos of Enhtsetseg from Mongolia.]
  
• "This is real yoga: contorted postures by which the soul of an Indian yogi seeks escape from its human body." Life, Feb. 24, 1941, pp. 10-2. [NOT VERIFIED but supposedly had photos according to Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.]
  
• "Top yoga expert amazes audience with 200 twists." Jet, vol. 57, no. 24 (Feb. 28, 1980), pp. 54-55. [Man-in-a-box Guy Coudoux, 3 photos.]
  
• We fell in love with the circus. p. 88. [One woman tells about doing some contortion when younger, with a few photos.]
  
• Willoughby, David P. The super athletes. South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes, 1970. [Includes photos of three contortion duos: photo #107 (p. 337) is of Rus Saunders & Dolores Hoff, #108 of the Spurgat Brothers, and #145 of The Mascotts.]
  
• Winchester, Oliver. "Pictures to the editors: Imogene's knots." Life, December 25, 1939, p. 59. [Imogene Winchester at 10 years old. 6 photos.]
  
• Yan Qubai. Best of Chinese Acrobatics. 112 p. [A coffee table book of photos gathered from international performances of lion dancing, juggling, contortionists, etc.]
  
• Zhu Chi and Fu Qifeng. Preface by A Liang. Chinese acrobatics. Beijing : Foreign Languages Press, 1981. 145 p. [Photos and descriptions of acrobatic acts with a brief history.]

Go back to the Table of Contents of this page.

WORLD HISTORY

• Culhave, John. The American circus: an illustrated history. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1990.
  
• Fu, Ch'i-feng. Chinese acrobatics through the ages. Beijing : Foreign Languages Press, 1985. 125 p. plus 32 p. of photos. [The history and evolution of acrobatics and other circus acts in China from prehistoric times to the present. Illustrated with paintings, figurines, woodcut pictures, and photos from each historical period.]
  
• Jay, Ricky. Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women. New York : Villard Books, 1987, c1986. [Stories about several male vaudeville acts, p. 232-233, 1 photo.]
  
• Kothari, Sunil. Odissi, Indian classical dance art. Bombay: Marg Publ., 1990. 132 p. [Describes the ancient origins and history of the Bandha Nritya dances, which may include extreme backbending, as depicted in reliefs on temples in Orissi state, India p. 15-16, along with a modern demonstration of the poses p. 46-47.]
  
• Markschiess-van Trix, Julius, and Bernhard Nowak. Artisen und Zirkuspakate. Edition Leipzig: Zurich ? , 1975. [Has a few reproductions of circus posters with contortionists in them. Book is in German.]
  
• Strange feats and clever turns: remarkable speciality acts in variety, Vaudeville and sideshows at the turn of the 20th century as seen by their contemporaries. London: Holland & Palmer, 1998. 192 p. "The book, comprising heavily illustrated original articles, includes a five page article on Pablo Diaz, the King of Contortionists; details and photos of Wentworth the Contortionist packed in a box with six dozen bottles; Knotella doing an astounding back-bend; and Ames, the Boneless Wonder."Advertisement at http://www.holland-palmer.demon.co.uk/
  
• Tate, Carolyn E. "Art in Olmec culture." The Olmec world: ritual and rulership. The Art Museum, Princeton Univ., 1995. [Interpretation of the backbending shamans depicted in Olmec relief panels and vases; proposes that contorted postures helped induce and control their mystical fits of epilepsy.] See also: Furst, Peter T. "Shamanism, transformation and Olmec art" in the same volume for a photographic catalogue of the exhibition.

Go back to the Table of Contents of this page.

PHYSIOLOGY AND TRAINING

• Alexander, Marion J.L. "A comparison of physiological characteristics of elite and subelite rhythmic gymnasts." Journal of Human Movement Studies, vol. 20 (1991), pp. 49-69. [The average flexibility of elite gymnasts is compared to the average of subelite gymnasts.]
  
• Alexander, Marion J.L. "The physiological characteristics of elite rhythmic sportive gymnasts." Journal of Human Movement Studies, vol. 17 (1989), pp. 49-69. [The maximum range of motion of ten Canadian rhythmic gymnasts for seven flexibility tests.]
  
• Allen, Laura. "The body elastic." Science World, vol. 53, no. 9 (February 7, 1997), pp. 9-11. 5 color photos. [Ulzii and Nomin from the Cirque du Soleil help illustrate how muscles work, and Tige Young gives stretching tips.]
  
• Alter, Michael. Science of Flexibility and Stretching 2nd ed., 1997?
  
• Beighton, Peter, Rodney Grahame, Howard Bird. Hypermobility of Joints. London; New York: Springer-Verlag, 1983, c1989. 182 p. photos. [A comprehensive survey of medical research on hypermobility in both healthy and deformed patients.]
  
• > Beighton, Peter, F.T. Horan. "Dominant inheritance in familial generalised articular hypermobility." The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Vol. 52B, no. 1 (Feb. 1970), p. 145-7. A brief study of the families of two hypermobile women, one with stable joints (Diane Ward), the other suffering from dislocations and arthritis, showing that both types of hypermobility are inherited traits. 1 photo.]
  
• Cholerton, Judy. The Acrobat. Association of American Dancing, 193-? (2d ed.) "This book of acrobatic poses ... is issued with a view to helping teachers and acrobatic trainees. By studying these poses acrobats will, it is hoped, be inspired to apply their technique even more assiduously." 30 p.?, mainly photos. Photos from the book.
  
• Delano, D. H. Teachers Acrobatic and Adagio Manual. [50-leaf pamphlet with some hand drawings of contortion poses. Pamphlet also has section dedicated to teaching contortion stunts.]
  
• Dwight, Thomas. Anatomy Of The Contortionist . Scribner's magazine, Vol. 5, Issue 4 (April 1889). Full text is available at the Library of Congress' American Memory web site, and scanned pages are at the Cornell University web site.
  
• Fire eating; magic bandolin; the magnetic girl; the human pin cushion; how to become a contortionist; snake charming; secret of sword swallowing; dancing on broken glass; the secret of educating the pig and goose. United States: s.n., ca. 1900. [9]+p.
  
• Goudard, P. and P.M. Boura. "Les arts du cirque: histoire et specificites d'une activite physique artistique." Cinesiologie (Paris), vol. 30, no. 140 (Nov./Dec. 1991), p. 301-309.
  
• Gould, George M. and Walter L. Pyle. Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine. New York: Bell, c1896. 968 p.
  
• Griffin, Charles Eldridge. How to be a contortionist! or, Bending make easy: a practical self instructor by a well known professional. Suffern, Rockland Co., N.Y.: Chas E. Griffin, c1896. One sheet folded into 8 p. : ill.
  
• Hall, Nelson. Stage tricks and Hollywood exercises : how to develop skill in suppleness and acrobatics. New York, Exposition Press, 1957. 128 p. 543 ill. [Training exercises for acrobats and contortionists, including tips on health and stage presentation; illustrated with line drawings by the author.] Scanned pictures of the whole book!
  
• Hewitt, James. Complete yoga book: yoga of breathing, yoga of posture, and yoga of meditation. Schocken Books: New York, 1978. [Has drawn illustrations of several advanced yoga postures.]
  
• Issurin, V.B., D.G. Liebermann and G. Tenenbaum. "Effect of vibratory stimulation training on maximal force and flexibility." Journal of Sports Sciences. v. 12, no. 6 (Dec. 1994), pp. 561-6. [Claims the benefits of applying a mechanical vibrator to the muscle for increasing flexibility.]
  
• Janda, Vladimir. Vysetrovani hybnosti: svalovy test, vysetreni zkracenych svalu, vysetreni hypermobility. Praha: Avicenum, 1974- . v.
  Laughlin, Kit. Stretching and Flexibility. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. 280 p., photos. ["This is by far the best book on flexibility training that I have ever come across. Every aspect of each exercise is discussed. Very precise information is also given on how to go into and out of stretches, and how every muscle involved is to be used. It finishes with stretching recommendations for different sports. It doesnt deal with extreme stretching - the most flexible positions dealt with are complete side and forward splits, and a bridge. However it is outstanding on the precision and level of detail that it gives on all issues - including the psychological effects of stretching." -- Jim Pickles]
  
• Moyer, J. "Teaching contortion stunts." Physical Education Newsletter, vol. 136 (Apr. 1982), pp. 2-4. [Getting children started in very simple contortion; 8 photos.]
  
• Nelson, Jack K., Barry L. Johnson, and G. Con Smith. "Physical characteristics, hip flexibility and arm strength of female gymnasts classified by intensity of training across age." The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, vol. 23, no. 1 (March 1983), pp. 95-101. [A comparison of girls in physical education, recreational and competitive gymnastics.]
  
• La pathologie du yoga. [Text which claims that Europeans are not suited for extreme frontward bending due to evolutionary changes in their skeleton.]
  Oki, Masahiro. Practical Yoga: A Pictorial Approach. Tokyo: Japan Publications, 1970. 160 p., photos. [A guide to yoga with a few exercises that border on contortion.]
  
• Scaravelli, Vanda. Awakening the spine. San Francisco, Calif.: Harper San Francisco, 1991. 191 p. [Yoga manual by a very flexible 88-year-old woman. She is also featured in: Yoga Journal, June 1996, p. 128.]
  
• Snaith, Michael L. "On the one hand and on the other." The Lancet. v. 348, no. 9032 (5 October 1996), pp. 907-908. [Research shows that osteoarthritis is less common in lax joints.]
  
• Steinbruek, K. and H.W. Springorum. "Kontortionisten und Wettkampfgymnasten - erworbene Hypermobilitaet" Zeitschrift Orthop. vol. 118 (1980), pp. 751-760. [X-rays of the spine of a female Spanish contortionist.]
  
• Zimmer, Carl. "Circus Science" Discover. vol. 17, no. 2 (Feb. 1996), pp. 6, 56-63. [Finding the principles of physics in acrobatics, mathematics in juggling and biology in contortion, featuring color photos of Cirque du Soliel performers.] To read the full text of the article, type 'Circus Science' into the search engine at http://www.discover.com/archive/index.html

Go back to the Table of Contents of this page.

FICTION AND LITERATURE

• Berend, Alice.Der Schlangenmensch: Roman. Berlin: S. Fischer, 1925. 262 p.
  
• Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre = Wilhelm Meisters apprenticeship. 1821-1829. [In Book 2, Chapter 4, Wilhelm takes a liking to Mignon, a young contortionist/dancer in a travelling circus, and gives her a job as his servant.]
  
• Hugo, Victor. L'homme qui rit = Man who laughs. 1869. [Preliminary Chapter 2 tells of legendary bandits known as Comprachicos who stole children in Europe, cut their mouths into a permanent smile or forcibly trained them in contortion, and sold them as court jesters.]
  
• Kramer, Philipp.Serpentino, der Schlangenmensch: eine Erzaehlung. Berlin: Vaterlaendische Verlags- un Kunstanstalt, 1914. 78 p.
  
• Peterson, Norma. Rhonda the Rubber Woman. Sag Harbor, N.Y.: Permanent Press, 1998. Advertisement at http://www.stonebridge.com/wgroup/rhonda.html
  
• Smigh, A. Morton. "Contortionists are his hobby." Hobbies - the magazine for collectors, Nov. 1942, p. 13, 23. [Burns M. Kattenberg and his collection of contortion memorabilia.]
  
• Thomsom, June. "The case of the Hammersmith Wonder." pp. 42-64 in The secret chronicles of Sherlock Holmes.New York: Otto Penzler Books, c1992, 1994. [The famous detective deduces that it was Vigor the contortionist who murdered the music-hall songstress, based on the unlikely place where he must have been hiding.]
  
• Toscana, David. Our Lady of the Circus. St. Martin's/Dunne, 2001. 256 p. [A social satire in which eight circus performers colonize an abandoned town and divide the work of ordinary citizens among themselves. The contortionist takes the role of the minorities who do the least desirable labor.]
  
• Scrivner, Jay. The contortionist : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts, University of Washington, 1992. 35 p. [A collection of poetry written by a graduate student in the Department of English; poem on p. 17 is titled 'The Contortionist']
  
• Verne, Jules. Cesar Cascabel. v.1 The travelling circus. v.2. The show on ice. 1890. [A family of acrobats touring in America, their second son Sandre Cascabel a contortionist, is robbed and attempt to return to France by way of the Bering Strait. Their adventures along the way include an encounter with a tribe of Indians that could equal any feat that they could perform.]
  
• Washburn, Laura L. Watching the Contortionists. Palanquin Press, 1997. 26 p. [The title poem in this collection of poetry describes the experience of observing and contemplating upon a live contortion act, based on a scene in the film "Henry and June".]
  
• Willett, Edward.Clip, the contortionist, or, The vigilantes of Montana. New York: Beadle and Adams, 1884. 14 p. (Beadle's half dime library; v. 14, no. 340)
  

Go back to the Table of Contents of this page.