Didier Pasquette is a noted

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

tightrope walker Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

. Pasquette studied with

Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French highwire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized highwire walks between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...

(famous for his high wire walk between the former

Twin Towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

of the World Trade Center in New York in 1974) and in 1989 received his diploma from the Centre National des Arts du Cirque in

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons ...

. He also studied Chinese acrobatics in

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

. For six years, he performed in partnership with

Jade Kindar-Martin Jade Kindar-Martin (born February 16, 1974) is an American highwire walker and circus performer. Career Kindar-Martin started performing on the wire at the age of 14 with Circus Smirkus, a youth circus based in Vermont. Following his graduati ...

in theatrical high wire acts for ''Camion Funambule''. Pasquette and Kindar-Martin also became known for their dramatic skywalks.

Notable walks

*1997 – Pasquette and Jade Kindar-Martin walked a 430-metre wire 30 metres above the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, setting a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

. *1999 – At midnight on December 31, 1999, Pasquette walked a high wire running along the

Greenwich Meridian The Greenwich meridian is a prime meridian, a geographical reference line that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London, England. From 1884 to 1974, the Greenwich meridian was the international standard prime meridian, ...

in Villers sur Mer as part of the

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

celebrations in France. *2001 – Pasquette successfully walked a high wire from the Rosenborg Drill Ground in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

to the highest tower of

Rosenborg Castle Rosenborg Castle () is a renaissance castle in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV's many architectural projects. It was built in the Dutch Renaissance style, t ...

. The only previous attempt was in 1827 when

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

tightrope acrobat Christian Roat was killed after the wire collapsed. *2005 – Pasquette walked on a wire stretched high above the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. *2007 – Pasquette performed a high wire walk at the Red Road flat complex in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

between three

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s 53 metres apart and 100 metres above the ground. Film of the attempt was incorporated into ''High Wire'', a multi-screen film and video installation by

Catherine Yass Catherine Yass (born 1963) is an English artist known for her wall-mounted lightboxes. Biography Catherine Yass was born in 1963 in London. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and Goldsmiths Colleg ...

for the 2008 Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Visual Arts. *2010 – On September 23, 2010, at 6:30 p.m., Pasquette successfully walked a 150-foot wire tied between two replicas of the Statue of Liberty atop the 23-story Liberty Building in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. The feat took about three minutes. Pasquette twice stopped during his walk to wave to the crowd. Pasquette lifted his right leg and waved his cap the first time. The second time, he went to a knee and waved his cap again from side to side. The weather was approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight breeze.

Sources

Biography
on the ''High Wire'' project site. *Stephen McGinty
Glasgow proves tall order even for daredevil
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' 23 July 2007
Taking risks for art with Didier Pasquette
''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'', April 14, 2008 *Nadine Champenois
Tête en l’air et pieds sur terre
Portrait of Didier Pasquette (in French), '' Petites Affiches Matot Braine'', May 28, 2005, N. 7134.

External links

of Didier Pasquette
Didier Pasquette in Montreal 2005

Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the ...

.
Photographs of Didier Pasquette's 2007 high wire walk in Glasgow
by Grant Gibson. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasquette, Didier Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Tightrope walkers