Inversion? Circus Hand-Balancing and the Discourse of the Upright Body

In the history of the body, upright posture has been the theme of philosophical reflections on human nature and the object of scientific explorations and practical measures ensuring social norms. It is even possible to locate a certain discourse of the upright body as a model for understanding what it means to be human. However, humans have long experimented with the opposite: the inverted position. The handstand is probably the epitome of this endeavour to invert upright posture. Within circus performance, hand-balancing has been developed into an art form of its own. This article examines how hand-balancing relates to the upright body. The article argues that circus hand-balancing participates in the discourse of the upright body in a paradoxical way, both inverting and reinforcing it. The article argues that this is expressed not only on a representational level but also on the technical and experiential levels of the practice.