Bongonga advances on a tightrope as she scales the Monmartre hill towards the Sacre Coeur Basilica (not pictured) in Paris. — Reuters photo
PARIS: French tightrope artist Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga impressed hundreds of Parisians on Saturday with a performance that featured a walk on a rope suspended 35 metres above the ground in the city’s hilly northern district of Montmartre.
Bongonga, 34, walked on a rope suspended by a crane at the base of the hill’s steps towards the Sacre Coeur basilica accompanied by a chamber orchestra, without any security equipment, a gesture many in the audience found nerve-wracking.
“It’s very surprising and very dangerous. It really impressed me, actually. I noticed that she was not secured. There was a lot of acrobatics. I had a really good time,” spectator Jennifer Mandelbaum told Reuters.
Acrobats practising tightrope walking, also called funambulism, maintain their balance by positioning their centre of mass directly over their base of support, a rope or a wire. Bongonga, who prepared for the show for a year, has been practising tightrope walking since she was 8. — AFP