Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-04-28
A "ssNoea's- CONFESSIONS.
A Fair Ensi,sh Coatortieniss ef NIsstees
Tells Of Her Prosessiou.

Tells Of ilsr Prossssien.
Tho other day called on . bender.
lady. not . gentleman. who b well known
- q most serpentine contortionist ]
wished 10 ask Mile. vonars Q few qucs-
tions about her art. with view Of throw.
Ing some light on the training Of little
boys and girls for the profession. The
lady was sitting before the fro with her
sistcr. who has abandoned bending her.
self. and exhibits troupe Of highly edu.
Gated poodles. A huge wicker basket con.
tained her dress and other stage habits.
From IL depths she produced bundle Of
photographs Of herself. tied and knotted
into all manner Of curious folds.
That u the business Of bender. The
body y thrown Into Q score OF unnatural
posturea which appear 70 the audience TO
b achieved By dlslocatlng every Joint In
the human Frame and 10 b effected at
great risk TO limb and nfe. Artists are
generally enthusiastio about their callings.
and I must say that Miss vonaro declared
she would rather b . bender than
queen on something 10 that effect She BE-
gan a L at u abe was before the public.
and remains bender stu my father
saw oontortionist one night on the stage.
and be ssksd himself why hs ahould not
teach me- sgsd { Iwas put into train.
ing q oncs. and enjoyed the fun. a. q
child WIN enjoy anything new. Was l
beatenf was ] starvedi No. I seemed to
take TO Il like . little duck takes 10
water. You seA We were = family Of
athletes. and. besides. was Q daughter
and not IN apprentice II the father Il
the trainer hs may mot spare the rod. but
he b cruel only. 10 be kind My expert.
cnce h that less rod and moro Kindness 10
the bost plan. Father used to bribe rs
Into doing tho different tricks. To be sue.
eessful means years Of hard work. prac.
tice and performance. am 10 now, and
my performances keeps me In capital train.
ing.
In the business Of contortion the flrst
lesson b the backward bend, 0rst with
the arms. and then without. You stand
on . long mattress. 70 that there u no
danger. and at 6rst your teacher controls
your movements with . bait. II II much
the same with other forms Of acrobatio
work, AID the cruelty oftsn takes the form
Of taking awsy the mattress. which
creates ascst Of panic In the pupils mind.
II be has really tried his best and failed,
he Is 30 terrified that he 70 almost certain
to fall unless he has q great deal Of pluck.
II he has only been sulking. II may bring
him to his bearings. OF course. children
are often stubborn. and try tho patience
Of the teacher to It's utmost limit.
"The art Of contortion.' continued Miss
vonarc. ''is learned BY degrees. First the
backward bend. then the 'dislocation,'
then the splits. and 10 ON. What we
call 'closeness' distinguishes the best
bending To the audience bending seems
most difficult. experience no discomfort
or Inconvenience I was Q puny child
You soc me now The lady bender was
certainly most healthy and cheerful, stout
In body and ruddy In complexion, and she
strongly maintains that all women would
be greatly benefited II they took to bend.
ing 1T ID quite mistake to think that
We put our limbs out Of Joint. or that wo
suffer from the curious nature Of our per.
formanco. OF course. after ono or more
difficult positions one may suffer little
pain, but II goes In no time. In some at
titudes can only remain for twenty soc.
onds. as the breathing becomes difficult.
But these are triliing inconvenicnces. !
practice few minutes every day TO keep
myself loose here In my room. and that is
about all need do. Pail Mall Gazette.