Who are tightrope walkers? They are circus performers

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

What is tightrope walking, who are tightrope walkers? You will find out by reading the article.

Let's understand the terminology

The assertion naturally sounds that tightrope walkers are those who are engaged in tightrope walking. There is no error in this statement, but it explains absolutely nothing. Therefore, for starters, let's find out what tightrope walking is.

This is a genre of circus art, where performers perform by balancing their bodies in the most difficult positions and on the most unstable objects, for example, on a ball, wire or rope, bottles, a pyramid of chairs, a pole, a vertical ladder without fasteners, a bicycle and other things. The genre is combined with juggling and acrobatics.

History

Equilibrists are an ancient profession, as evidenced by the drawings of tightrope walkers on stones, which have survived to the present from primitive China. It is known that Chinese artisans who wove jute ropes for sale tested their strength in a special way. They stretched the product between the trees, and then stood on it, walked along it, holding on to a long stick. Gradually, these tightrope walkers developed a sense of balance, self-confidence appeared. The most dexterous already jumped onto the rope and walked on it without a stick, some even learned to run and jump on it without insurance, which was very spectacular. Later, a competition appeared in China, during which tightrope walkers competed among themselves: who will stand longer, who will jump higher or do the most difficult trick on a tightrope.

From China, this art spread to other Asian and then to European countries. There, wandering artists at festive games, fairs and sports competitions, in addition to walking on a tightrope, showed another wonderful number: they held a long stick with their feet, in their hands, in their mouths or on their heads, on which a girl or a young man was balancing. In our time, also in many circus acts, a tightrope walker pole is used, which is called persh.

And how did Russian tightrope walkers surprise the world? These are real virtuosos who demonstrated incredible abilities.

Milaev Evgeny Timofeevich

He is a famous Soviet tightrope walker. He created a unique number: he balanced with his feet a ladder, on top of which his partner was lying, and balanced with his legs a second ladder, on which a third artist performed complex figures. Yevgeny Milaev himself also performed dizzying and very complex gymnastic tricks. Together with the group, he toured extensively abroad.

Pavlov Sergey Alexandrovich

Many people remember him as a cheerful clown Lalakin. This artist in 1984 presented a trick of the highest complexity, which no one had ever performed before him, moreover, it was believed that the trick at allimpossible to perform. Pavlov revolutionized the circus genre by rehearsing jumping rope on a wire. First he performed three jumps, then four, his record is seven jumps in a row at a fast pace through a rope on a wire.

Slavsky Rudolf Evgenievich

A talented Soviet artist. The first began to perform plot circus numbers, paving the way for a new genre. In 1934, together with Alexandra Vorontsova, he prepared an equilibrist lyrical number with a comedic tint "A Date at the Yacht Club". Then he staged scenes "In the Morning", "Seaman" and others, which looked easy, but were technically very difficult.

Molodtsov Fedor Fedorovich

Russian tightrope walker, whose career peaked at the end of the 19th century. He performed very complex tricks: he walked on a tightrope on stilts, skates, with weights in his hands, blindfolded, danced a lezginka and a lady on a wire, at the same time accompanying himself on a balalaika, stood on his head, sat on the back of a chair. Until now, no one has been able to repeat his number "Fire Knight". He toured a lot, abroad he was nicknamed the "Russian miracle".