Tightrope walking

As a tightrope referred to an action in which one or more persons to run on a taut or slack rope, dance, and perform other feats.

History and Development

The art of tightrope walking, there was in ancient times by the Greeks, but much more common among the Romans. A distinction was Funambuli that run on strong ropes, and Neurobatae, on gut strings. The latter were also called Aërobatae ( ' air dancers " ), because they seemed to dance in the open air on the thinness of the strings from a distance. Acrobat feats can be found on vases and wall paintings of antiquity. On some coins of Cyzicus even climbing the tower rope is shown.

Later came from India and Egypt to Constantinople acrobat Opel. In the Middle Ages knew Indian, Persian, Oriental jugglers of its kind The acrobat Arcangelo Tuccaro wrote an illustrated essay on his art (Paris 1599).

As a " balancing act " refers to an acrobatic performance by acrobats on a tightrope. Before the invention of the wire acrobatics in 1834 was applied to hemp ropes. The first tightrope took place at the beginning of the 20th century. Spectacular were crossing the Niagara Falls or the space between the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Distinction

When performing on the floppy or dance the rope have the tightrope, on the high wire of ( wire ) cable run.

Slackrope

The slack rope is a loose hanging rope between two fixed points. In this different art pieces are presented in the Balance. Slight lateral swinging movements keep the artistes in balance. In addition to the running and turning on the slack rope there are many different tricks, such as unicycling, juggling, hand and head stand, and swing.

Dance cable ( stiff wire)

The dance rope is attached as well as the slack rope at a height of up to 4 m at two fixed points. However, it is stretched with a pulling force up to 40 kN. It's called therefore stiff rope, directly translated from the English "tight rope". As a balance aid is often a balance fan, which has a drop or circular. A special feature of the dance is the rope suspension, which is especially used by French artists. This facilitates the dance performance with jumps, spins and step sequences. The cable lengths are in this discipline about 5 m. It used guyed ropes or freestanding appliances. Seitenabspannungen like the high ropes are uncommon.

High ropes

A high wire is like dancing a strong rope tight rope wire and is, as the name suggests, uses at higher altitudes. In the circus, the height is about 8 to 10 meters, the outdoor can be up to several hundred feet. High rope runners typically use a balancing pole, which is difficult between 5 m and 20 m long and up to 30 kg in order to gain a greater moment of inertia and a lower center of gravity, which greatly facilitates the balancing. Some artists, particularly from America and Spain, however, but mostly work freehand, then on a relatively short rope. With the usual outdoor heights and the cable lengths of up to several hundred meters, it is almost impossible without a balancing pole to withstand the wind and the oscillations occurring. Long ropes are secured at intervals with lateral bracing wires ( " Cavaletti " ) against excessive decay.

On the tight rope ( rope or dancing high ropes ) and cartwheels, bends, splits or cracks can be made, you can drive it or sit with a chair on it with a specially prepared unicycle.

Feats on the rope

Sometimes a high-wire act with the rise in the cable-stayed is started, the more difficult it turns out, the stronger the rope is inclined. Among the most ancient pieces of art belongs walking with stilts or baskets on their feet and blindfolded. It wheelbarrows were pushed over the rope and worn people. After the bike also unicycles and bikes find on the high wire use.

In addition to various forms of two- and three- man highs - the top man stands on the shoulders or on the head of the sub 's upright or in handstands - Pyramids are built, with two sub- men are connected by a shoulder bar on which a Obermann stands. In this way, the Wallenda troupe in 1947 succeeded the famous seven -person pyramid ( four men, two in the middle and one at the top ). The Camilio -Mayer- and Camilla Meyer troupe showed the seven- man pyramid, however, before 1943.

1950 was shown by the Bob Gerry troupe for the first time the six-man pyramid ( three men, two people in the middle and one at the top ). This pyramid remained until the dissolution of the band in November 1963 peak and integral part of this high- wire act. Bob Gerry (real name: Alois Geryk ) and his wife Ruth were former members of Camilla Meyer troupe.

Particularly daring feats are movements without a balancing pole on the high wire, such as skipping a sitting partner, jumping rope, epee fencing, riding on the saddle -less unicycle ( "Ultimate Wheel" ) and backflip.

Famous tightrope artists and troops

• Rabadan Hassanowitsch Abakarov ( born November 7, 1917)
• Carmo Bauer ( Bauer family of artistes )
• Charles Blondin (Jean François Gravelet - Blondin ) ( born February 28, 1824 † February 22, 1897 ), crossed first the Niagara Falls on a rope (30 June 1859).
• Carlos Camadi
• Pedro Carrillo ( born November 2, 1946)
• Family Coppini, entered 1809 in Munich and Augsburg, toured across Europe. Specialty: pantomimes and ballets on a taut rope
• David Dimitri
• Masha Dimitri
• Bob Gerry troupe (1944 - 1963)
• Weisheit
• Great Alzana ( Harold Davis) ( born 1918? , † 16 February 2001)
• Benno and Lothar Kastein ( born December 13, 1956 and July 15, 1954 )
• Freddy Nock (born 1964 )
• Camilio Mayer ( born April 25, 1890, † May 21 1972 )
• Camilla Mayer as an artist name of several high-wire artistes
• Gene Mendez (* 1934, † August 23, 1993 )
• Los Quiros
• Philippe Petit ( born August 13, 1949)
• Madame Saqui ( born February 26, 1786 † 1866)
• Joe Seitz ( born 1929 )
• Maria Spelterini ( born November 9, 1850 -? ) Crossed in 1876 on the occasion of the 100 th anniversary of the U.S. as the first woman to Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
• Rudolfo - Stey troupe ( family of artistes Stey since 1437)
• Konrad Thurano ( born April 4, 1909 † 20 November 2007)
• Falko Traber from the family of artistes Traber
• Vladimir Volshanski (* May 30, 1917, † 3 October 1983)
• Karl Wallenda ( born January 21, 1905 † March 23, 1978 )
• The American Nik Wallenda crossed in June 2013 unsecured became the first man on a 426 -meter-long cable to the Grand Canyon in just 23 minutes. Its ancestors are a tightrope walker for seven generations.
• Louis Weitzman ( born February 21, 1881 † March 15, 1968 )
• Mario Wittmann
• The original Munich Olympic Tower artistes ( Oskani high wire show ) family of artistes since 1612