The Iron Jaw is a traditional aerial circus act. The act consists of a performer raised into the air by a cable,

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

or other similar apparatus, supported only by a

bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represente ...

clamped between her teeth. Depending on the apparatus the bit is attached to, the performer can alternately swing in circles around the ring below or spin wildly in place, controlling speed by alternately extending her arms and legs out or bringing them in close to her body to speed up (known as the

conservation of angular momentum In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed syste ...

principle). The act is frequently referred to as the Human Butterfly due to the removable wings which traditionally adorn the performer's costume. It is also known as the 'Jaws of Life'.

Tiny Kline Tiny Kline (born Helén Deutsch,Kline, Tiny. (2008). ''Circus Queen and Tinker Bell: The Memoir of Tiny Kline''. Edited by Janet M. Davis. University of Illinois Press. June 21, 1891 - July 5, 1964) was a Hungarian-born

, in a footnote to her memoir, describes Iron Jaw as: "(a) holding one's grip by the teeth bulldog-fashion, suspended in the air; (b) lifting another person's weight; (c) juggling furniture or tugging an automobile- in short, any work involving teeth-power."

Notable performers

Leona Dare Leona Dare (1854/55 – May 23/24, 1922''New York Times'', May 25, 1922.) was an American trapeze artist and aerial acrobat, billed often as the "Queen of the Antilles" or the "Pride of Madrid".''New York Times'', June 9, 1879. She was famous ...

(American, 1854–1922) *

Miss La La Miss La La (born April 21, 1858) was an expert aerialist who served as muse to Edgar Degas and was depicted in his 1879 painting ''Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando''. She was also depicted in a poster for the Folies Bergère. She was the star ...

(German, b. 1858) *

(American, 1891–1964) *The Curzon Sisters (American, 1906–1920) *The Tybell Sisters (American, 1910–1926) * Nik & Erendira Wallenda hold the world record for the highest Iron Jaw act 350 ft. Erendira broke her husband's world record in Canada. *Igor Zaripov holds the Guinness world 3 times for heaviest weight. *Roberta Bobbie King. Became Youngest Iron Jaw artist in the world. she first performed at the age of 16 for Solvay Brussels LTD third biggest chemical company in the world. she lifted a 9st cast iron weight for a Dental Laboratory & Solvay promotion. This took place in 2017 at the Wessex Dental Laboratory Poole Dorset England U.K.

References

{{Reflist Circus skills