  the biellmann spin is an upright figure skating spin in which the skater executes a one-foot spin while holding the other foot extended over and behind the head, forming a teardrop shape with the body. the spin has also been referred to as a "tulip on a turn-table" due to the shape formed by the torso and leg. the position requires very great flexibility and spinning ability, and is almost always performed by women. the biellmann position is also used as a spiral position and as a position in ice dancing lifts. ==history== cecilia colledge may have performed a one hand biellmann spin from a layback spin at the 1937 world championships. one of the earliest skaters to do the spin was tamara moskvina. she was inspired after seeing a gymnastics competition and performed the spin at the 1960 european championships. she was also seen with this spin at the 1965 european championships. other early practitioners included janet champion, slavka kohout, and karin iten. in the late 1970s, the swiss skater denise biellmann popularized the spin and it was eventually named after her. she was the first skater who performed it to win a major international title. biellmann learned the spin at the acrobatic school. in the early '90s, the pair team of natalia mishkutenok and artur dmitriev incorporated it into a death spiral-like move. irina slutskaya has been credited as the first person to have ever performed a biellmann spin with a foot change (i.e., doing a biellmann on one leg, then immediately switching over to perform it on the other leg). ==technique== a spin becomes a biellmann spin, by definition, when "the level of the boot passes the head so that the boot is above and behind or over the head." some skaters have better positions than others, but as long as the boot is over the head, it is a biellmann. when learning the spin the skater does not usually drop their head into the teardrop shape formed by their body so as to maintain balance. skaters often cut their hands performing the biellmann. ==variations== there are many spin variations that are derived from the classic biellmann spin: * a cross-grab biellmann is a variation where the opposite hand is the one used to lift the leg. the other hand may or may not be added in this position. * the half-biellmann (also called a catch-foot camel spin) is a [[camel
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