Our Circus Structures

The Tightrope

Preamble:

The tightrope is installed by Le Moulin à vent Productions’ technical team at parties, festivals and events that have employed its services of ANIMATIONS or ATTRACTIONS.

A rental service without entertainment is however possible for some structures (contact us for more information).

Footprint: 

An area of approximately 20’x 70’ is required.

Installation Time:
1h30 to 2h of assembly, 1h to 1h30 of dismantling depending on ground conditions and access.

Safety and Use: Summer and Winter

The tightrope has a 20’ long anti-rotation wire that the public can walk on. A second cable is stretched 10’ higher. It acts as a safety wire (lifeline) for the public.

Le Moulin à vent Productions artists equip the apprentice tightrope walkers with a harness and then invite them to climb on the platform. Now if the time for the great crossing above the void, 8’ above the ground ! A balancing pole is even provided for the more adventurous.

Materials: A Cable-stayed structure in wood and aluminum

The overhead wire is attached between 2 solid ‘A’ frame wooden structures (spruce trunks bolted to a steel plate). The top cable is a safety line for the public; however, a tightrope walker can perform on it. The bottom cable is a walking cable stretched between 2 platforms. The tension of each cable can be adjusted separately according to the needs of the public and/or the artists.

Credit: 
– Original idea and Artistic direction: Christophe Meunier

Downloadable Document(s):

Tightrope Frame Layout Plan (by request)

(TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE TIGHTROPE)

Source of inspiration: circus arts/tightrope walker

At the start of his career, Christophe Meunier (founder and creative director of Le Moulin à vent Productions) had the opportunity to meet and work with the famous tightrope walker Ramon Kelvin Senior, from a long line of German and Dutch tightrope walkers (for 500 years). The fascination with this inaccessible universe (for most of us) inspired him, more than 20 years ago, to create a structure that would allow everyone to become the tightrope walker for a moment, safely.