Backbend

A backbend is a gymnastics, contortion, dance and ice skating move, where the spine is bent backwards, and catching oneself with the hands.

Throughout the move, the abdominal muscles, obliques, and legs are used to steady the performer while curving backwards.

For example, a backbend was performed by Jimmie Santee in the 1994 production of Walt Disney's World on Ice: Aladdin.

[5] Modern yoga includes backbending asanas such as the kneeling Kapotasana and Ustrasana, the inverted Urdhva Dhanurasana, and the sitting Rajakapotasana.

These are described as "strenuous"[6] poses, and should be worked on gently by beginners or people with stiff backs to avoid injury.