They move as one -- a fantastical insect bewitching the Las Vegas crowds in Cirque Du Soleil's legendary stage show, called simply "O."
But despite their
ethereal demeanor, each petite performer possesses a rare Herculean
strength and snake-like flexibility. And almost all hail from one
country: Mongolia.
"When you want a top
baseball player, sometimes you look in America. Where we need a
contortionist we look to Mongolia," said the show's artistic director,
Sandi Croft.watch the video
"When they dance they
have a natural flexibility, even in their folk dance. It is just part of
their culture to have this extra bend in delivery with their movement."
Why Mongolia?
The bright lights of Las
Vegas are a long way from the plains of Mongolia, a sparsely populated
country bordering China and Russia.
But in the last 70 years,
Mongolia has become a breeding ground for the world's top
contortionists, who have performed everywhere from Russia's Bolshoi
Theater to the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival.
Indeed, while other
well-meaning parents around the world might send their little girls to
ballet or piano lessons, in Mongolia they're more likely to drop them
off at contortion school.
While Mongolian
contortion has some similarities to ancient folk dances and yoga poses,
it was the launch of the State Circus in the 1940s that saw it really
take off as a professional art form.
When the contortion
school's first official trainer, the now legendary Tsend-Ayush, began
performing across the country, she quickly inspired a generation of
girls hoping to quite literally mold themselves in her likeness.
By eight years old I could do most of the technical moves -- I was considered a professional.
Nomintuya Baasankhuu, former contortionist
Nomintuya Baasankhuu, former contortionist
One of those children was then-eight-year-old Angelique Janov, now the trainer for Cirque du Soleil's "O."
"We'd never seen
anything like Tsend-Ayush before," she said. "It was her combination of
strong technical skills and the beautiful way she moved to the music --
she made it look so easy.
"After that, every little girl wanted to be a contortionist."
Child's play
Of course, training to
be a contortionist is far from easy. Students as young as five train for
around three hours a day, five days a week. They build up their
strength, flexibility and balance through various exercises such as
handstands, splits, and push-ups.
"My homework was 300
push-ups a day," said 29-year-old Nomintuya Baasankhuu, former
contortionist and Arts Program director at the Arts Council of Mongolia.
"It was intense. But by eight years old I could do most of the technical moves -- I was considered a professional."
There are some risks --
Baasankhuu suffered a knee injury after falling from a human tower three
meters high. But many contortionists insist that much like any sport,
it is safe if done properly.
"Contortion is not
dangerous," said 63-year-old Cirque du Soleil trainer Janov. "It's like
yoga -- if you're stretching every day you stay young."
Naturally gifted?
Such rigorous training
regimes have been a huge factor in the Mongolians' success around the
world. But how much of a role does genetics play?
"Some people are
naturally more flexible and this is often due to genetics -- if one of
our parents is flexible, we're more likely to be flexible too," said Tim
Allardyce of the British Osteopathic Association.
"That said, a naturally
flexible person would not be able to get themselves into positions that
contortionists can without extensive training -- it is only very
gradually, over many months and years, that the ligaments and muscles
lengthen, allowing the joints to become more mobile."
World of opportunity
For many youngsters in Mongolia, contortion is seen as more than simply a hobby -- it's a golden ticket to the world.
"Mongolian contortion is
globally competitive -- today many performers work for Cirque du Soleil
and other international circus companies," said Baasankhuu, who also
researched the history of Mongolian contortion at the National
University of Mongolia.
"That is why so many girls would like to become contortionists and travel around world and make living from it."
So what is it about these mysterious performers that continues to beguile audiences across the world?
Janov perhaps summed up their allure best: "It's the realization that an individual can do things that seem impossible."
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