Meet Zlata: the 'Goddess of Flexibility'

Feeling overstretched at work? This contortionist certainly does — curling her body over a desk to use a computer with her hands and feet.

The bendy blonde shows she really does bend over backwards for the boss in a calendar of office-inspired images.

In one picture, artist Zlata — real name Julia Guenthel — pours coffee with her leg bent back over her shoulder. Another shows her holding a presentation with her head between her legs. She also squeezes herself into a suitcase, under a desk and contorts herself on a chair. 

more pictures after the break


Zlata, whose calendar is aptly called More Flexibility in the Office, said: “Most CEOs want to have more flexibility in work from their employees. “Through my calendar I hope to inspire employees on becoming more flexible and give bosses the right motivation.

“It is my profession to train my body to be very flexible.”

Zlata has been a contortionist since she was 17. Her talent for stretching was discovered when she was four. She then went on to study at circus school when she was six before moving from her native Kazakhstan to Leipzig, Germany, at the age of 16.

She rose to fame on the country’s version of Britain’s Got Talent and has since worked for a number of big companies and become a sensation as far away as China. But Zlata, who likes to be known as the Goddess of Flexibility, is hoping to make it big as an actress in Hollywood.

She trains for three hours a day and can hold positions for up to five minutes.

Zlata added: “I love it to get into extreme positions like that and test my physical boundaries. “They are really not painful – in fact it’s an amazing feeling to be in such tight holds and extreme positions.”