On the High Wire
Page 7
And be given a rehearsal hall?
Have my films produced? My plays staged?
Why not rip open the chest of Destiny?
With voracious eyes, staring at the forest of pillars, I am ready to bite the wings of every appeasing thought.
Instead, a sound.
From the crypt. Rising near. Penetrating the grain of the lower slabs. A melody, now. Pouring over the choir, through the transept, along the aisles. And growing. The grand trumpets of the organ are let loose. A prelude. The sun breaks in. The magnificent Gothic vessel is shaken. Fire and clamor consume its sacred geometry.
Echoes . . .
As long as I have a bit of steel rope hanging, I know I’ll venture on it. Without the benefit of a single mistake. Like a criminal. In any storm. I have no choice.
To that friend visiting my retreat not long ago, I took the drawing he liked, a boasted ashlar, and wrote “To Werner, for the hell of it!”
Did I mean heaven?
Philippe Petit
Artist-in-residence
The Cathedral Church
of St. John the Divine
New York City, August 7, 1984
Philippe Petit, high-wire artist
*=high-wire play: conceived, directed, and performed by Philippe Petit
1949Born August 13, in Nemours, France
1966Discovery of the wire
1967Character of Le Chat Botté—on the wire—by Jules Supervielle, direction Isabelle Garma, Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, St. Germain-en-Laye, France
1968Character of the Rope Dancer in *L’if (with Malika), Théâtre de l’Amicale, St. Germain-en-Laye, France
1968Character of Aibric—on the wire—in Les ombres sur la mer (The Shadowy Waters), by W. B. Yeats, translation Antoine Berman, direction Isabelle Garma, Théâtre de Plaisance, Paris
1971Vallauris, France. Performance for Picasso's 90th birthday
Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris. Clandestine
1973Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia. Clandestine
1974World Trade Center, New York City. Clandestine
Central Park, New York City. Inclined walk over Belvedere Lake
Laon Cathedral, France. Between the two spires, for Wide World of Sports
1975Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans. Walk the highest and longest diameter, for the opening of the largest covered stadium in the world
1980Surprise walk, Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City. Inside crossing—Clandestine
1982Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City. Walk celebrating renewal of the cathedral’s construction following a 40-year hiatus
*Concert in the Sky, Denver. High-wire play for the opening of the World Theater Festival
1983*Skysong, New York. High-wire play for the opening of the SUNY Arts Festival
Beaubourg/Georges Pompidou Center, Paris. Ascension
1984*Corde raide et piano volant, Paris. High-wire play with rock singer Jacques Higelin
Paris Opéra, Paris. High-wire improvisation with opera singer Margarita Zimmermann
Museum of the City of New York, New York City. High-wire performance for the opening of Daring New York exhibit
1986*Ascent, New York City. Concert for grand piano and high wire on an inclined cable along the nave of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
*Lincoln Center, New York City. High-wire performance for the reopening of the Statue of Liberty
1987*Walking the Harp/A Bridge for Peace, Jerusalem. High-wire performance on an inclined cable linking the Jewish and Arab quarters for the opening of the Israel Festival under the auspices of Mayor Teddy Kollek
*Moondancer, Oregon. High-wire opera for the opening of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts
*Grand Central Dances, New York City. High-wire choreography above the concourse of Grand Central Terminal
1988From the House of the Dead, Paris. Creation of the role of the eagle in the Janáček opera (based on the Doestoevsky novel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff
1989*Tour et fil, Paris. Spectacular walk—for an audience of 250,000—on an inclined 700-meter cable linking the Palais de Chaillot with the second story of the Eiffel Tower, commemorating the French Bicentennial and the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, under the auspices of Mayor Jacques Chirac
1990*American Ouverture, Paris. High-wire play for the groundbreaking ceremony of the new American Center
1990*Tokyo Walk, Japan. Japan’s first high-wire performance, to celebrate the opening of the Plaza Mikado building in Akasaka
1991*Viennalewalk, Austria. High-wire performance evoking the history of cinema, for the opening of the Vienna International Film Festival under the direction of Werner Herzog
1992*Namur, Belgium. Inclined walk to the Citadel of Vauban for a telethon benefiting children with leukemia
*Farinet funambule!, Switzerland. High-wire walk portraying the 19th-century “Robin Hood of the Alps,” culminated by the harvest of the world’s smallest registered vineyard to benefit abused children
*The Monk's Secret Longing, New York City. High-wire performance for the Regents’ Dinner commencing the centennial celebrations of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
1994*Historischer Hochseillauf, Germany. Historic high-wire walk on an inclined cable from the Paulskirche to the Dom, to celebrate the 1,200th anniversary of the city of Frankfurt, viewed by 500,000 spectators and the subject of a live, nationally broadcast television special
1995Catenary Curve, New York City. Humorous interlude during a conference on suspended structures given by the architect Santiago Calatrava
1996*ACT, New York City. Medieval performance to celebrate the 25th anniversary of New York City's most innovative youth program
1996*Crescendo, New York City. On three different wires set in the nave of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, as a farewell tribute to the Very Reverend James Parks Morton, Dean of the Cathedral, and his wife, Pamela
1999*Millennium Countdown Walk, New York City. Inauguration of the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History
2002*Arts on the High Wire, New York City. Benefit performance for the New York Arts Recovery Fund on an inclined wire at the Hammerstein Ballroom, with clown Bill Irwin and pianist Évelyne Crochet
2002Crystal Palace, New York City. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Crossing Broadway, New York City. Inclined walk, fourteen stories high, for The Late Show with David Letterman
2010Nikon’s Great Performances by Great Artists: “Above All, Philippe Petit,” New York City
2014*The Song of the Phoenix, New York City. For the opening of Xu Bing’s Phoenix at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, with saxophonist Paul Winter.
Look Up! A high-wire apparition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the WTC walk, at Long House Reserve, East Hampton, New York
2019Open Practice, Brooklyn. SLAM. Combining a typical wire rehearsal with comments and stories.
FILMS
Concert In The Sky (Denver, 1983). Centre Productions, Inc., directed by Mark Elliot
High Wire (New York, 1984). Prairie Dog Productions, directed by Sandy Sissel
Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic (Canada, 1986). Philippe plays Blondin. Seventh Man Films for the IMAX System, directed by Kieth Merrill
Tour et fil (France, 1989). FR3/Totem Productions, directed by Alain Hattet
Filmstunde (Austria, 1991). Werner Herzog Productions, directed by Werner Herzog
“Profile of Philippe Petit” (Washington, DC, 1993). National Geographic Explorer special
The Man on the Wire (Germany, 1994). Documentary of the rigging and artistic preparations for Historischer Hochseillauf. Hessischer Rundfunk Television
&n
bsp; Historischer Hochseillauf (Germany, 1994). Live broadcast of the Frankfurt walk. Hessischer Rundfunk Television, directed by Sacha Arnz
Mondo (France, 1995). Costa-Gavras Productions, directed by Tony Gatlif
Secrets of the Lost Empires: “The Incas” (Peru, 1995). PBS/Nova and BBC coproduction, directed by Michael Barnes
Man on Wire (UK, 2008). Academy Award–winning documentary. Wall to Wall/Red Box Films, directed by James Marsh
The Walk (US, 2015). With Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Philippe. Sony Pictures/Image Movers, IMAX 3D, directed by Robert Zemeckis
THE WIRE WALKER’S BOOKSHELF
The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley. New York, Doubleday & Co., 1944.
The Morrow Guide to Knots by Mario Bigon and Guido Regazzoni. New York, Quill, 1982.
Why Knot? by Philippe Petit. New York, Abrams, 2013.
Samson Rope Manual, Boston, MA, Samson Ocean Systems Inc., 1977.
Rigging Manual by D. E. Dickie. Toronto, Ontario, Construction Safety Association of Ontario, 1975.
The Handbook of Rigging by W. E. Rossnagel. New York, McGraw Hill, 1964.
Tensile Structures vol. I and II by Frei Otto. Cambridge, MA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1969.
Architecture du cirque des origines à nos jours by Christian Dupavillon. Paris, Éditions du Moniteur, 1982.
Instant Wind Forecasting by Alan Watts. New York, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1975.
Pocket Weather Forecaster. Woodbury, New York, Barron’s, 1974.
Le funambule by Jean Genet. Paris, L’Arbalète, 1958.
Mémoires d’une danseuse de corde: Mme Saqui (1786–1866) by Paul Ginisty. Paris, Librairie Charpentier et Fasquette, 1907.
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino. New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.
Of Walking in Ice by Werner Herzog. New York, Tanam Press, 1980.
A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. Woodstock, NY, The Overlook Press, 1974.
Master Tree Finder by May T. Watts. Berkeley, CA, Nature Study Guild, 1963.
Nouvelle histoire mondiale de l’aviation by Edmond Petit. Paris, Hachette, 1973.
The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney. New York, Vintage/Random House, 1983.
Le petit cirque by Fred. Paris, Dargaud, 1973.
Traité de podologie by Docteur Boris J. Dolto. Paris, Maloine, 1982.
Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee. Burbank, CA, Ohara Publications Inc., 1975.
La barre-fixe by Paul Masino and Georges Chautemps. Paris, Vigot Frères, 1961.
Neige et roc by Gaston Rebuffat. Paris, Hachette, 1959.
Paroles sur le mime by Étienne Decroux. Paris, NRF/Gallimard, 1963.
The Theater and Its Double by Antonin Artaud. New York, Grove Press Inc., 1958.
Leonardo on the Human Body by Leonardo da Vinci. New York, Dover Publications, 1983.
La merveilleuse histoire du cirque by Henry Thétard. Paris, Julliard, 1978.
Tsirk by Shuier & Slavsky. Moscow, Izdatielsvo Covietskaia Encyclopedia, 1973.
Circus History by Iwao Akuna. Tokyo, Nishida Shoten, 1977.
Le grand livre du cirque vol. I and II by Monica J. Renevey. Genève, Edit0-Service S. A., 1977.
Histoire et légende du cirque by Roland Auguet. Paris, Flammarion, 1974