If you’re looking for unusual performances, you can guarantee to find some at the Cirque de Soleil. However, there aren’t many more astounding and unusual than what “Volta” performer Danila Blim.
They call her “The Hair Hanger”. Okay, so it isn’t the most original and inventive nickname in the world, but it certainly is appropriate. If you’re the type of person who finds it sore pulling their hair out of a knot, you might want to look away now.
The Performance
Danila performs her almost ballet-style dance moves while totally suspended…by her hair. A knot tied in her hair has a metal ring attached to it, and from this she attaches to wires. She’s then flung around the circus with seemingly effortless ease, presumably while the rest of the audience wince and cringe!
The incredible video shows some of her performance from Volta, and goes on to discuss how she got into acrobatics, and how difficult it is to become a “hair suspension artist”.
How Does She Do It?
Danila is surprisingly chilled about her amazing discipline. “It is painful when you are learning,” she says “but then every discipline in the circus is”. She seems to have immense confidence in what she’s doing, and rightly so when you see the ease of her performance.
Perhaps most amazingly, there’s no trickery going on here. You could almost forgive her for having some wires attached somewhere else, but this isn’t the case at all. Bim has trained for this since 2017, and speaks in the video about the difficult process.
Danila talks about areas she had to strengthen including her spine and neck, and she even claims she’s worked hard to improve the strength of her hair follicles! Hard to believe, until you see the luscious head of hair she still has!
The only trick or tip she really shares, other than practicing, is that she bunches all of her hair together to provide strength around the metal ring. Still don’t fancy giving it a go? No, neither do we!
The Reaction
Danila is becoming widely known as one of the highlights of the show. Audience members are wowed by something they think is either impossible, or must be agonizingly painful.
Can we just take in that hair suspension performance for a minute? All of @voltabycirquedusoleil was incredible, but @danila_bim gets all my kudos for mesmerizing us with her talent … all while held up only by a single cable and the hair on her head. G… https://t.co/5Me6xn54wy pic.twitter.com/CwOYxNV204
— Kate Michael (@kstreetkate) August 1, 2019
Not sure what kind of wizardry this is, but this performance was called “Hair Suspension”
Danila Bim has an act where she is moved across the stage, while being tethered to her head! Not pulled, mind you, but, doing… https://t.co/yPt8Iy3zkX— Z (@Z_exists) May 27, 2019
Danila’s Career
Danila’s career and character seem absolutely amazing. She seems so outgoing and takes everything in her stride. Hailing from Brazil, she has an interesting group of hobbies including playing the trombone, and, of course, hair-hanging!
She’s worked in Trapeze and Acrobatics since the 1990s, and grew up in Brazil where she first learned some of the arts of the circus. She studied dance at the Municipal Dance School of Ribeirão Pires, São Paulo.
Danila continues to learn new circus skills and has even started juggling while suspended! While we don’t expect to see hair hanging become a new trend, be sure to check her out.
You can check out Danila and many of the other amazing acts in Cirque Du Soleil as they travel around the globe.
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