One of the hardest parts of having a community that is extends around the world can be the language barrier we face when sharing information. Although some information can certainly get lost in translation, Nero Daikokudo‘s chest suspension is impressive enough on its own, with or without a perfect description. I apologize in advance if I don’t get the information for his suspension completely accurate, but from what I am told Nero first attempted a one point chest suspension in 2008, which failed due to tearing. Three years later, he finally had his opportunity to try it again. On his second attempt, he succeeded in suspending for 10 minutes before coming down. Although many would consider that an impressive amount of time for a single point chest suspension, Nero wanted to push himself further. For his third attempt, which is shown here, he challenged himself to remain suspended for 20 minutes. I’m sure it was quite intense, but he managed to remain calm and relaxed throughout the experience. Congratulations on your accomplishment Nero, I hope we see more as you continue to achieve the goals you set for yourself.
A few months back we featured a video about a small body suspension group headed up by Alexis Noventa and the growing interest in body suspension throughout Puerto Rico. This next video is one example of suspension coming into the spotlight as more and more people become curious about what it is we do. Alexis was invited to be a part of this news segment by reporter Marjorie Ramírez called Taboo Tribes, which covered a range of subcultures considered by some to be taboo, to discuss the practice of body suspension. Although the segment doesn’t necessarily paint the best picture of what we do, Alexis made an effort to explain that they don’t suspend for the pain, they do it for the joy and happiness it brings into their lives. Hopefully people are able to take away a positive message from it, and disregard the assumptions made by those commenting from outside of our community that we are in someway doing this to be negative or as a sort of teenage ‘rebellion’. Alexis has stayed positive about it though, saying that it gave them exposure, and allowed people who were interested in suspension to reach out and contact them. It certainly says a lot that he maintained a professional manner as he explained body suspension, even with the somewhat rude attitude of the crew working on it. The most important part was that Alejandra, who is filmed here suspending for her first time, had a wonderful experience with it. In the end, that means far more than what one television crew or priest thought about who we are.
Thank you so much for sharing this Alexis. Please continue to keep us up to date with what is happening in Puerto Rico with body suspension.
Another holiday season has come and gone, and for many of us the tinsel covered nightmares of shopping malls and department stores are still fresh in our memory. However, this year Disgraceland gave one lucky crowd a completely different kind of Christmas experience with their performance at the Gramercy Theater in New York City. This fantastic video by Angelica Vanessa gives those of us who weren’t there in person a little glimpse at the excitement and chaos that took place on stage that night.
The evening started out simple enough as the Disgraceland entertainers eased the audience into the performance with a small dance routine. As the crowd began to focus on the performance, suddenly Kimmy and Stacy were in the air and on the move, swinging above the crowd to shower them with glitter, snowflakes, and candycanes. With that, the show was in full swing as 40 performers worked the stage to thrill the crowd with sideshow acts, play piercings, body skewering, and more. As the girls came down from their suspensions, Mikey took their place in the air to show the crowd just how crazy you can get with over 30 feet of height to play with. As he was swinging over the stage, Mr. and Mrs. Claus wrapped up the night with a flesh pull against one another underneath him.
It seems like the crowd and entertainers all had a wonderful time that night, and Angelica did a wonderful job putting this video together. A special thank you from Kaspa goes to his DHS family, as well as to Angelica Vanessa, Kay, Amanda Chainsaw, Laz Chainsaw, Orb, and Cere for all of their hard work on this.
Body suspension is serious business. Those of us in this community not only perform out duties as practitioners with the utmost professionalism, but also hold one another in the highest regard as colleagues. Being the mature adults we are, we would never enjoy a laugh at another practitioner’s expense. Ever. Well… maybe just this one time. This little piece of mischief was made possible by Allen and a handful of individuals that wanted to give Rick the finger, along with a little encouragement, as his hand heals up.
Of course, we wouldn’t give Rick such a hard time if we didn’t love him so much. He is a huge part of this community, and a wonderful person to know. I am sure he knows this video comes from the heart, but everyone who participated had better make sure to give him lots of love and well wishes at Superpull anyway.
I think almost everyone in the suspension community has heard of the Sinner Team. With their elaborate suspensions, beautiful photography, and daring free fall suspensions, they have quickly become the center of many discussions among the practitioners in our community. They are a team that has constantly pushed the boundaries of what is possible with body suspension, performing everything from their well known free fall suspensions to four man tandems and more. Although several of their photos and videos have been seen online, many of us have yet to learn about who makes up their team and the direction they intend to take their work. Stanislav, founder of the Sinner team, took a moment to tell us a little about who they are.
Most of us in the suspension community are well aware of the very talented SwingShift SideShow by now, and if you aren’t then you had better start doing your homework. Andrew S. and Kelvikta the Blade are the duo behind the cutting edge performances seen on stage, and they work to push their bodies to new limits during their incredible shows. Through years of body conditioning and self control, they perform stunts that could literally kill someone less prepared, and they do it all out of love for their art. With their creativity and originality, it’s no wonder that they have gained some serious attention. Their list of television appearances has been growing, and most recently they traveled to Vienna, Austria to perform for Das SuperTalent, Germany’s version of America’s Got Talent. They were allowed to perform 3 sideshow acts as well as a lovely suspension by Kelvikta, which was made possible with the help of Jussi Paradise and Ana Laco. An interesting precedent may have been set with this television show as well; as far as we are aware it is the first time that a body suspension has been allowed in any of the ‘Got Talent’ shows around the world. Let’s hope that it is a trend that we see continue.
If you haven’t seen these guys perform before, you definitely should get out to one of their upcoming shows. They are two of the nicest people I have ever met, and their stage performance is incredible. There is no way you can watch them and not fall in love. Congratulations to you both on your continued success!
Over the years suspension as an art form has been utilized by many different forms of entertainment. It’s been featured in movies, primetime television, all over the Internet, and in numerous forms of print media. The allure of suspension can often be difficult to describe, but its addition to other performances gives a new dimension to both our crafts. One of the oldest and most natural connections is that of music and suspension. Anyone that’s hung from hooks will tell you that music adds to the experience. Also, from the musician’s point of view, the visual of a body swing through the air definitely adds the visuals during their videos and live performances.
Since the early 90’s suspension and music have made excellent bedfellows. Both small local bands and giant internationally known acts have added hookers to their bag of tricks. To the outsider this might seem like a well functioning symbiotic relationship. However, for many reasons this is rarely the case. Ultimately the fans go to the shows to hear the band play. Of course people come to see more than a regurgitation of a studio album, but the addition of a suspension is simply a cherry on top, not the meat and potatoes of the concert.
Furthermore, suspension artists have a limited lifespan. Even under the best conditions, age, injury and constant damage to the skin take their toll. Plus suspenders often have to deal with makeshift piercing areas and the added problems associated with healing wounds while on the road. As a (mostly) retired performer and still working suspension piercer/rigger, I’ve seen quite a bit of this world from the inside. It can be a grueling, underpaid and sometimes unappreciated career. What starts as a glorious life in the limelight with a golden ticket to see the world can turn into days or weeks of lingering pain, long hours sitting in hot/cold venues, and a body that looks less like a temple and more like it’s been blasted by a shotgun.
Now is this article intended to deter musicians and hookers from making this connection? On the contrary, I support the infusion of suspension into musical entertainment. My point of this blog is to illustrate that suspension performance is tough work. From an outsiders point of view it might seem like an easy job, well as easy as hanging from flesh hooks can be. One or two shows might not be too difficult, but committing to a tour takes dedication and sometimes personal sacrifice.
Suspension never pays enough to be a full time career. Performing means taking time off school and/or work. Five minutes in the air really means two to three days of lost wages. A week on tour can sometimes mean losing a job, not to mention the physical damage that takes months to heal. A month on the road? Well, early retirement is right around the corner. I’ve seen what hanging night after night does to people. Heck, I’ve seen what it does to me.
Bottom line, artists shouldn’t sell themselves short and those that hire us should be understanding and accommodating. When we suspend for entertainment, we are giving it our all, flesh, blood and spirit. We are not expendable or easily replaceable. Furthermore, we are network and a family. If we are treated with respect, we as a community will give back 100% and more. For every musician, band, production and management company that has supported us through the years. You have our sincere gratitude. We have and will continue risk our lives and health for art. All we ask is that you understand what we are giving. Help us to remain safe and please compensate us for the pain and suffering we endure.
There are plenty of people who don’t understand our community or our reasons for doing what we do. They can’t bring themselves to see past the idea of flesh hanging from hooks to realize that there is something much deeper and far more incredible happening. Often, those are the same people who, having never been around it, assume that the only goal of body suspension is to seek attention. With so many closed minds out there, it’s always a victory when professionals outside of our community recognize what we do as being something that is not only a positive influence, but also an art worth learning more about. Recently, members of the medical community in Sweden took the time to do just that when they were invited to come face to face with a body suspension by Wings of Desire‘s Havve Fjell at PAIN, Performance Art in Norrbotten.
Writing for this website, I get the pleasure of seeing so many beautiful images and videos that capture little glimpses of what is it we do. There are so many of these that really amaze me every time I look at them; the talent and creativity in this community is incredible. Occasionally, something will come along on here that not only turns my head, but takes my breath away. The most recent is a series of projects being created by Ryan Holandes, owner of Merikan Metals. The videos of his creations, which use flesh hooks and piercings to turn art into something that can actually be experienced, have had the suspension community buzzing since they first surfaced. Although we see amazing things done in the suspension community every day, it’s far more rare when we see someone take our craft and use it in a whole new way. Ryan was nice enough to take the time to tell me a little about himself and his incredible work.
I have said before that the easy access to phones able to capture video really takes away from the number of quality body suspension videos you can find. People have become so accustomed to the ability to shoot a video quickly and effortlessly, that they tend to forget how much of the art is lost in that. Digging through the multiple dark, shaky, or blurry iphone shots online, it makes me so excited when I stumble across a well made video like the one featured here. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it includes a beautiful young lady not only performing her first suspension, but hanging as gracefully as if she had done it a hundred times before.
Juniper and husband Fredrick Zal are featured in this video, sharing in the experience of her first body suspension back in 2010. When Juniper approached her (then) fiance Fredrick with her interest in suspending, he began to reach out to the contacts he had to help make it possible for her. He contacted Chris Hoffman, a piercer that he knew had worked with body suspension photo shoots in the past, and from there they were able to pull together the rest of the elements they needed to document the suspension.
Juniper said that, for her, getting in the air was the hardest part, but she was able to do it with Fredrick talking her through it. She compared the experience to hitting the reset button in her brain, saying that it was ” excruciating, exhilarating, and not something to be undertaken lightly.” Body suspension is something that is a different experience for everyone that does it, but I’m sure most of us can relate to the intensity of your first time in the air. Thank you so much for sharing this incredible moment you had Juniper!
Suspension.org is a website for those interested in the art and technical aspects of body suspension and the responsible dissemination of information pertaining to such. It is not designed to encourage people to attempt any dangerous activities.
