Tied in Knots: Contortionists display “body art” at local convention

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000 | 8:57 a.m.

What: International Contortion Convention demonstration

When: 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Where: Sunset Station's Club Madrid.

Cost: Free.

Information: Call 897-4556.

Some of the top contortionists in the world will bend over backwards to entertain the public tonight at Sunset Station.

The free demonstration of one of the oldest forms of body art is part of a three-day International Contortion Convention that began Monday.

"It is more accepted, more respected in Europe and Asia than in the United States," said Ska von Schoening, an international promoter of the art form who resides in Cologne, Germany and Las Vegas. "Americans do not really see it as well respected."

In Germany, von Schoening's company is called Showbiz. In Las Vegas it is Ska Entertainment. She produced a show two years ago at the Boardwalk called "Teeze."

"For many years, contortion has been looked at as somewhat of a weird kind of body performance, almost like a sideshow. But it is a very hard thing to do and it requires a lot of discipline," von Schoening said.

She and her husband, Walter, held the first contortion convention in Germany two years ago and said it was so successful they wanted to hold one in the United States to give the art more exposure here.

Although most of the convention is only for those who have registered to attend, a free public performance by the contortionists will be held tonight at Sunset Station's Club Madrid.

"I want people to see it as body art and bring it out into the open as a beautiful art form rather than as a freaky thing," von Schoening said.

While the focus of the public performance will be on contortion, one of Europe's more famous award-winning jugglers, 25-year-old Daniel Hochsteiner, also will entertain.

Hochstenier has been juggling since age 11. The highlight of his act is when he juggles five tennis racquets.

"Cirque du Soleil" and "O" at the Bellagio, which feature contortionists, has helped improve the image of contortionists in this country, von Schoening said.

The trainer and coach for "O," Angelique, will be among the performers tonight.

Also demonstrating the art of body bending will be April Tatro and her 87-year-old mother, June; Otgo Waller, a native of Mongolia who has performed in the United States for the past nine years; Josephine B., a Russian-born German contortionist; and several others.

June Tatro said she was about 8 years old when she discovered her flexibility.

"I used to go to the movies and a stage show for a quarter," she recalled. "The stage shows were fabulous. I would try it (repeat the contortion routines) when I got home."

Though she didn't pursue a professional career as a contortionist, her limberness shaped her career as a teacher of physical conditioning.

And she passed her flexibility along to her daughter, April, who did become a contortionist and a dancer.

April Tatro began studying dancing and acrobatics when she was 9 years old. After high school she became a professional dancer -- first at Disneyland, then in Boston and eventually in Las Vegas, at the Dunes and the Sands, where she was a Copa girl.

Tatro juggled many different pursuits -- college, dancing, teaching, physical training, acting and contortion.

Eventually, she said, she married, had a child, got a divorce and discovered she could make a good living at trade shows, where she would use her contortion talents to highlight the products of her clients.

"I would do as many as 32 trade shows a year," she said.

After 18 years on the road, Tatro got out of the trade show business and focused more on acting, appearing in such television shows as the soap opera "Days of Our Lives." She also is a personal trainer and teaches exercise classes.

Otgo Waller was born in Mongolia, a nation where the art of contortion is highly respected.

"In my country, it is very popular. A lot of Mongolian contortionists perform all over the world," Waller said.

She was the only one of six siblings, five brothers and a sister, who had hyperflexibility -- the ability to bend forward or backward more than natural.

Waller's talent was discovered when she was 6 years old and entered a gym class. The coach saw the flexibility and helped her enroll in a performance school, where she learned contortion, ballet, jazz, music and other arts.

At the age of 9 1/2 she joined a circus and began performing around the world as a contortionist.

Nine years ago she joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for two years, and then worked in Canada for a time. She moved to Las Vegas five years ago, but following this convention she will be off to Chicago with her husband and 2-year-old daughter.

"The (booking) agency I work with books me out of town all the time," Waller said. "It doesn't really matter where I live."

Waller said her speciality is a routine involving bending backwards.

"I can also bend forward, but I chose back bending because it is hard but looks more beautiful and I can do more stuff," she said. "There are beautiful movements in that position."

Josephine B., (her real name is Helena Henkel) was discovered in Germany by von Schoening almost three years ago.

The 21-year-old has performed in Las Vegas once before, at the Westward Ho, but spends most of her time in her home country, where she works at a lot of conventions. Josephine also is a back bender, a skill for which von Schoening said there is a great demand.

"It is the most difficult form of contortion to do," she said.

And women are in greater demand than men. Many men who have the talent, she said, aren't interested in performing.

The art of contortion dates back thousands of years. "The pharos of Egypt were entertained by them," von Schoening said.

Although von Schoening has been training contortionists for the past 10 years, and represents them in Germany, she is not one herself. In her younger days she was an acrobat and dancer.

"Contortion is body art," von Schoening said. "It requires a lot of discipline, a lot of training, like any other art -- ballet, dancing -- it's the same kind of discipline."

She said about two percent of the population is born with the natural ability to be a contortionist, but only a small percentage of that number actually become professionals. "It is a small, select group."

She sees the convention as a chance for people with an interest in contortion to get together and exchange ideas and information, and to meet American talent agents, who have been invited to the event.

Although contortion may look painful, von Schoening said with proper training and warm up exercises it is not dangerous.

"When you see a yogi doing (yoga) poses, nobody says that's unhealthy," she said. "They say you should to it to stay healthy. It's the same thing with contortion. It's how you do it."

Jerry Fink is an Accent feature writer. Reach him at jerry@lasvegassun.com or 259-4058.

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