ZORAN MILICH
Portrait of Natasha Veruschka with a sword in New York City. As described by The Guinness World Records, Veruschka continues to hold the record for: Natasha Veruschka (USA) swallowed 13 swords, each at least 38.1 cm (15 in) long at 3rd Annual Sideshow Gathering and Sword Swallowers Convention, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA, on 3 September 2004. Natasha Veruschka (USA) swallowed a sword 58 cm (22.83 in) long sword on Sword Swallowers Awareness Day, 28 February 2009.
Natasha Veruschka, stretches at her home while preparing for her evening show in New York City. As a sword swallower and belly dancer, Veruschka started at the age of 4 to become a contortionist.
In her bedroom, Natasha Veruschka slips on stockings hours before her evening show in New York City. She often walks with her belly dancing costume to her gig in the Hell's Kitchen district of New York City.
In her home in New York City, Natasha Veruschka gently irons her hair to straighten it out before one of her performances.
Natasha Veruschka dances to music in her bathroom in New York City. Veruschka prepares herself for her sword swallowing evening show at The Laurie Beechman Theater in the Hell's Kitchen district. Some of her music while she prepares herself is Arabic, heavy metal, gypsy and some Leonard Cohen.
In her home in New York City, Natasha Veruschka puts on lipstick in a mirror a few hours before her performance.
In her living room,Natasha Veruschka, prepares her swords by cleaning them with Vodka. Veruschka believes that only vodka totally sanitizes the metal that go into her body as far as her lower stomach. In the past she has almost died twice swallowing swords.
At home Natasha Veruschka, prepares her longest sword that she will swallow that evening in New York City. Veruschka searches the world for her swords and goes by feeling before deciding on which one.
At home, Natasha Veruschka places multiple swords to check and make sure there is no roughness around the edges before her evening show in New York City. Her swords from stainless steel which she hand picks around the world. The swords she uses must be apart of her spiritually and physically being she says.
In her home in New York City, Natasha Veruschka tests one of her swords before she takes it to her performance.
Natasha Veruschka glides down her stairs at her home in New York City. Veruscka is a world record holding sword swallower.
Natasha Veruschka belly dances in her sword swallowing show. Part of Veruschka's costume consists of Turkish and Egyptian hand sewn costumes. The announcer during her show reminds people that her swords, awards and breasts are real.
Sword swallower, Natasha Veruschka, walks through the Hell's Kitchen district to her show in New York City.
Natasha Veruschka swallows seven 15 inch swords on stage in New York City. Audiences come from all over the world to see her changing act. Each show is different and many of her fans come to see her just to see what she is will be wearing.
Natasha Veruschka swallows one of many swords in New York City. After each show she reminds her audience never to do this at home. While Veruschka is on her knees it is the most dangerous position to be in to swallow a sword due to extreme risk of injury. Many have died and or injured permanently trying to copy her act.
After swallowing thirteen times during her evening show, Natasha Veruschka holds her stomach to feel if anything went wrong in the feature performer talent bathroom. Veruschka performs almost every night of the week in New York City including Atlantic City, Las Vegas and as far as the Middle East.
After swallowing thirteen times during her show, Natasha Veruschka puts her multiple swords away in the feature performer talent bathroom. Veruschka performs almost every night of the week in New York including Atlantic City, Las Vegas and as far as the Middle East.
Sword Swallower Natasha Veruschka walks past a mural in her neighborhood on her way to Ripley's Believe it or Not, in Times Square on Sword Swallowing Day.
Natasha Veruschka twists her sword at 360 degrees in her throat at Ripley's Believe it or Not in Times Square in New York City during Sword Swallowing Day.
Queen of the Swords
Natasha Veruschka QUEEN OF THE SWORDS is the world Guinness record holder for a woman who swallows swords.
As featured on CNN:
Life's Calling as the "Queen of Swords'
She will invite up to 14 swords, some 29 inches long, past her esophagus, but she is rarely willing to invite people past her front door.
The Self-proclaimed “Queen of Swords,” Natasha Veruschka, a multiple Guinness World Record Holder from swallowing swords, is quite reserved for a woman who makes a living performing in front of hundreds of people around the globe.
“My age is like my phone number: unlisted,” she told LIFE photographer Zoran Milich, who over the past two months established a rapport with the professional sword swallower.
“The first time I did it, it felt like home. It made me complete,” she says of ingesting swords.
Her 5’4” stature, 92-pound frame and bubbly persona make it hard to believe she’s in the profession of ingesting blades of steel, but her glowing neon sword, which illuminates from the inside out reveals this is not a magic act. She may dress the part of an illusionist, in colorful bedazzled leotards and layers makeup, but her swords are real. Instead of wielding them against another, she puts them inside of her. And she enjoys it.
Her passion for her profession is reflected on the walls of her New York City townhouse, replete with awards, trinkets from around the world, costume jewelry and of course, her prized swords.
And then there are the Vodka bottles strewn across the floor. But this half-Russian does not drink. The Vodka is used as a cleaning agent for her swords.
Veruschka, as multidimensional as her 8-sided Chinese Sai sword, was born in India to a British mother and a Russian father. After her mother’s death, she was adopted by Mennonites in the Ukraine, and then shipped across the Atlantic to Canada, where she discovered her life’s calling as a young child while washing dishes in church. While cleaning a knife, she caught her reflection and felt a sudden connection to the sharp steel blade.
Photographer Milich, himself, has come a long way from Toronto, working in former Eastern Bloc countries before the fall of the Berlin Wall and documenting the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. He took a brief detour in South America before moving to NYC where he is continually inspired by those around him. “it’s the people that make it so interesting, not just the landmarks,” he says.
Throwing in the dish towel, Veruschka eventually made her way to New York, performing with swords and belly dancing. “She is a fine polish among all the dirt in New York City,” Milich says.
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- Michelle Cohan, CNN
About The Photographer
Zoran Milich is a New York City based photographer with a concept-documentary style whose work has been published in high-end advertising and online magazines, most recently at LIFE and CNN. Zoran also has four International best seller books for children (Kidscan Press) at the Guggenhiem and MOMA Museum book stores in New York City, Amazon.com and most importantly Public Libraries across North America. He is currently involved in creating NFT’s.