Francisca Vazquez had never consider anything quite like it . It was 1916 , in Mexico City , and untried Francisca ’s parents had convey her to see the world - famous Barnum & Bailey Circus . The genius ofP.T. Barnum ’s was to collect alien acts from around the globe and showcase them to rapt local audiences .
The number that enthralled Francisca , herself a second - multiplication circus performer , was do by a duo of long - hirsute Chinese human race . garb in silk tunics , the homo were rise into the air by their long , blackhairand spun around in a dizzying roofy . As painful as it attend , the men wore serene smiles and even sipped tea from small tables set on their laps [ origin : Wadler ] .
This , as legend snuff it , is how the Ayala family was first inclose to the ancient circus artistry of hair hang . depend on who is tell the narrative , teen Francisca either taught herself how to lace and tie her hair or was tutor in the secret pattern by a " prissy Chinese lady " [ origin : Beck , Wadler ] .
Five genesis afterward , the char of the Ayala household are still some of the premier hair hangers in the world , their act showcased in none other than the forward-looking - day Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus [ source : Millat ] .
The member of Ayala class are some of only a XII hair - hanging families worldwide [ source : Barr ] . The scarceness of hair’s-breadth hangers is a testimonial to the trouble of the human action , which even the most seasoned performer let in can be incredibly painful . It ’s also severe .
In May 2014 , eight hair hangers with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus were seriously offend when a alloy clench suspending them 15 feet ( 5 m ) in the melodic line snapped , institutionalise the women toppling to the priming in front of 4,000 horrified viewer [ source : Fieldstadt ] .
Marguerite Ayala , granddaughter of Francisca Vazquez , suffered her own disastrous fall in 1982 , waking from a workweek - long coma to a broken neck . Two years afterwards , though , she was back in the act [ author : Wadler ] .
What are the secrets behind this feat of follicle strength , where did it start and what does it feel like to be swung around by your scalp ? Keep reading to learn all about haircloth hanging .
Ancient and Modern Hair Hanging
short is have intercourse about the history of hair hanging , but most forward-looking sources consider the art form originated with Chinese performers starting in the former 1900s [ source : Barr ] . The original whisker hanger were mostly men like the Camellia sinensis - sip Chinese performers that Francisca Vazquez get wind in Mexico City .
China has a long and rich chronicle of contortionism , aerobatics and assortment human action . Taiwanese art and trade date back more than 2,000 twelvemonth draw lithe acrobat in high up - flying action . During the Qin and Han dynasties , some 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. , variety bit were recruited to nurse the royal Chinese motor inn [ root : Taiwanese State Circus ] .
Plate spinning , stilt walking and contortionism were just a few of the acts that developed into the " show of a hundred tricks , " the earliest incarnation of the modern carnival [ source : Columbia Artists Management Inc. ] .
The Taiwanese whisker hangers from the 1916Barnum & Bailey Circuswere in all likelihood among the first to share their scalp - stretching human activity with the world . The basic elements of the hair hanging act have changed very little over the past century , except that most ( but not all ) modernistic tomentum hangers are women .
Rarely does a carnival school day learn hair hanging . One of the few that does , but Circus in Massachusetts , limits its bookman to just 10 minute in the aura after five years of training [ source : Caligiuiri ] . Most people get a line the act from a family member .
Hair suspension is a form of high - wire number . Backstage , the performing artist ’s hair is cautiously braided around a blade loop . During the human activity , the loop is attached to a brand cable , by which the performing artist is lifted 15 to 35 understructure ( 5 to 11 meters ) into the air . Assistants in the wings use pulleys and steer cable television to control the spin move of the performer .
As pilus hangers soar in widening circles for five to 20 minutes , they might do refined pirouettes , twist in athletic contortions , twirl a hula basket or even juggle fire [ sources : Wadler , Barr ] . Joanna Sawicka , a Polish - hold fuzz hanger bang by her phase name Anastasia IV , curb a Guinness World Record for lifting the most weight with hair . She has a point act in which she is suspended upside down from a cable while holding another performer aloft with her hair [ seed : Cawley ] .
How in the human beings do hair hanger get their tresses strong enough to moderate their entire body weight unit ? We ’ll get some grooming tips , next .
Hair Hanging Preparation
Seeing a hair - hanging execution for the first time , you almost hope it ’s fake . The blade cable must attach to a body harness hidden beneath their clothing , right ? Otherwise , would n’t it hurt like crazy ?
To answer the question – yes , it perfectly wound , at least at first . Marguerite Ayala of the famous Ayala phratry toldthe New York Timesthat when she was take hair hang , she felt like stewing body of water had been pour on top of her caput . Thepainis bad , her girl added , when the performer is first lifted in the air , when the scalp stretches with the weightiness of supporting more than a 100 pounds ( 45 kg ) .
Anastasia IV , who performs with the U.K.-based Circus of Horrors , told the BBC that the pain ab initio drive her to tears . " It feels just like you might imagine hanging from your hair would feel – a very contiguous pulling sensation at the top of the foreland " [ source : Cawley ] . finally , she became used to it and now she just feels a dull ache . However , she often suffers fromheadachesand fix a bump at the top of her scalp by the goal of a three - calendar month circuit .
Even unsound than the annoyance of hang from your head is the prospect of plump to the ground , which is why hair hangers take bang-up precaution to ramp up up the strength of their drawn-out braid . The key is keeping the pilus from getting brittle or split .
Anastasia IV detailed her whisker care regimen in 2014 [ source : Cawley ] :
But the real secret to hair hanging , concord to its modest cell of practitioners , is in the intricate gold braid of the hairsbreadth . More on that next .
The Best-kept Secret of Hair Hanging
In addition to the pain of it all , you might wonder how hairsbreadth can really support a human body .
A individual strand of healthy human hair can oblige 3.5 ounces ( 100 grams ) of weight , the tantamount tensile speciality ofcopperwire of the same diameter . So , theoretically ( if not in pattern ) the whisker on a distinctive human head could support 2 tons ( 1.8 metric tons ) of weight [ source : Lee ] .
A tomentum hanger might have 3 feet ( 1 metre ) of hair . But it ’s not the duration or even the conditioning that is the real secret to performing this feat .
The literal trick is the tress . When the members of the Ayala family pass down their hair - hanging secrets to the next generation , it ’s all about securing the hair to the steel ringing in such a path as to distribute the perpetrate military group equally across the scalp .
If the tautness on the scalp is uneven , chunks of hair can be literally ripped from the performing artist ’s head . Yikes !
The detail of the plait – and the knot that secures it to the ring – are well - protect trade secrets . Each carnival family line has its own braiding technique that need careful subject field and geezerhood of experience . Anastasia IV said she figured it out herself through irritating trial and error .
Doing the gold braid postulate time and a team effort . It takes her 30 minute to sweep out her hair in preparation for it to be braided . Then her husband and second helper cautiously braid her hair like a rope , which take another 45 minute [ source : Cawley ] . The Ayalas have it down to a scientific discipline , requiring only 20 to 40 minute for the men of the family to braid and splice the women ’s hair to the thick support annulus [ source : Beck ] .
For lots more hair - raise feats of human survival – and a few brilliant hoaxes – check out the related HowStuffWorks links on the next Thomas Nelson Page .
Hair Hanging FAQ
Lots More Information
For a few years , my family and I live in Mexico , where there is a rattling culture of small , family - race circus . I was n’t surprised to learn that the Ayalas , perhaps the " first family " of hair wall hanging , originated in Mexico . We choose our Kyd to several touring circus company , always named after the phratry ( ¡ El Circo Guzman ! ) . To bone up up business , the circus would parade some of the brute through townspeople during the workweek . I ’ll never forget walking with my 2 - twelvemonth - old girl to the market and her pointing over my shoulder with eyes ablaze , " Tiger ! " expect to see a Tigger balloon behind me , I turned to brook face - to - case with a heavy , very real tiger pacing her cage . The performances themselves were of wildly vary quality ( one featuring an eternal series of rail dog act ) , but I do remember a few rightfully gifted hair hanger . Thankfully , there were also plenty of avocado tree .
