Jade Kindar-Martin (born February 16, 1974) is an American highwire walker and

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

performer.

Career

Kindar-Martin started performing on the wire at the age of 14 with Circus Smirkus, a youth

based in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. Following his graduation from

Champlain Valley Union High School Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) is a high school located in the town of Hinesburg, Vermont, United States. The school serves the towns of Charlotte, Vermont, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, Vermont, Shelburne, St. George, Vermont, St. Ge ...

in 1992, he went on to further his studies in the circus arts in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada at the Ecole Nationale de Cirque and then at 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 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Kindar-Martin there came under the tutelage and mentorship of highwire artist Rudy Omankowski Jr. and began his partnership with

Didier Pasquette Didier Pasquette is a noted French people, French tightrope walker. Pasquette studied with Philippe Petit (famous for his high wire walk between the former World Trade Center (1973–2001), Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York in 197 ...

. Together, Kindar-Martin and Pasquette soon began touring worldwide, as well as performing their own brand of highwire theatre as part of the Camion Funambule. In the six years they performed together, the two became known equally for their highly technical bicycle acrobatics and dramatic skywalks, including their

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 ...

-setting double skywalk across 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 ...

in 1997. In 1999, Kindar-Martin was recruited by

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

for a new show, ''

La Nouba ''La Nouba'' was a Cirque du Soleil show that ran for 19 years in a custom-built, freestanding theater at Disney Springs' West Side at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was a contemporary circus performance featur ...

'', in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, where he performed until January 2004. In the summer of 2004, Jade married fellow Cirque du Soleil performer and stunt woman Karine Mauffrey, high up in the air on a wire stretched over the grounds of the

Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmore ...

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city ** US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Chantilly (Charlotte neighborhood), North Carolina ...

, France. Kindar-Martin and his wife now split their time between Los Angeles, California, and their home in the

south of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. In the summer of 2005, Jade joined The Flying Wallendas, the world-famous highwire family, and performs regularly with them in the "Seven-Man Pyramid". In May 2007 in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea, Kindar-Martin competed in the First World Highwire Championships. Kindar-Martin, along with 18 other highwire walkers from around the world, competed for the fastest crossing of the kilometer-long wire over the Han River. With a time of 0:11:35.54, Kindar-Martin won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

, 13 seconds behind first place. In completing the walk, all who made it across now also share a new

for longest highwire walk. A longer skywalk may have been accomplished by Rudy Omankowski Jr., Kindar-Martin's mentor. In 2022, Kindar-Martin took place on '' AGT: Extreme'' where he finished as a Grand Finalist. In 2023, Kinder-Martin was a suit performer for the indigo rabbit animatronic Bonnie in the ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' film.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people American circus performers Entertainers from Vermont Tightrope walkers {{US-entertainer-stub