Many people would bend over backwards to avoid performing stunts in front of an audience. But Ariana Ferber-Carter — a professional contortionist and circus coach — is far more flexible, and her ...

As one woman in glittering Lycra gently bends her legs backwards over her head, another balances on top, slowly twisting her own limbs into a human pretzel. They move as one – a fantastical insect ...

When most people see contortionism for the first time, their reaction is often one of shock or disbelief: how is that even possible? The performance art, which involves twisting the body into poses ...

For some, a contortionist is nothing more than a freak-show act, doing something unnatural, not a thing of grace or beauty. But in Mongolia, flexing and bending the body into seemingly impossible ...