Philippe Petit

Philippe Petit ( French Pronunciation: [filip pəti] ; born 13 August 1949) is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his high-wire walk tussen de Twin Towers of the World trade Center in New York City on the morning or August 7, 1974. ^[1] For his feat Unauthorized 1,350 feet (400 meters) Above the ground – welke have referred to as “le coup” ^[2] – have rigged a 450-pound (200-kilogram) cable and-used a custom-made 26-foot (8-Metre) long, 55-pound (25-kilogram) balancing pole. He Performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes Along the wire. The volgende week, he celebrated his 25th birthday. All batches ulcers dismissed in exchange for im doing a performance in Central Park for children.

Since dan, Petit has lived in New York, where he has leg artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine framing a location or other aerial performances. He has done wire walking as part of official celebrations in New York, across the United States, and in France and other countries, as well as teaching workshops on the art. In 2008, Man on Wire , a documentary directed by James Marsh about Petit’s walk tussen de towers, won numerous awards. He was ook the subject of a children’s book and an animated adaptation of it, released in 2005. The Walk , a movie based on Petit’s walk, was released in September 2015, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit and directed by Robert Zemeckis .

He’ll be became adept at Equestrianism , fencing , Carpentry , rock climbing , and bullfighting . Spurning Circuses en hun formulaic performances, he created his street persona on the sidewalks of Paris. In the early 1970s, he visited New York City, where he Frequently juggled and worked on a slackline in Washington Square Park .

Early life

Petit was born in Nemours , Seine-et-Marne , France; his Father Edmond Petit was an author and a former Army pilot. At an early age, the boy when sending magic and juggling. He loved to climb, and at 16, he took his first steps on a Tightrope wire. He told a reporter,

Within one year, I taught myself to do all the things you Could do on a wire. I learned the backward somersault, the front somersault, the unicycle, the bicycle, the chair on the wire, jumping through hoops. But I thought, “What is the big deal here? It looks almost ugly.” So I started to discard Those tricks and to reinvent my art. ^[3]

In June 1971, Petit Secretly installed a cable tussen de twee towers or Notre Dame de Paris . On the morning of June 26, 1971, he “juggled balls” and “pranced back and forth” as the crowd applauded Projects. ^[4]

World Trade Center walk

Before his Twin Towers walk, Petit was Berninahaus to New Yorkers for his frequent Tightrope walking performances and magic shows in the parks of New York, met name Washington Square Park . Petit’s most famous performance was in August 1974, conducted on a wire tussen de Roofs of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, a quarter mile Above the ground. He Performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes Along the wire, prolongation have welke Walked, DANCED, lay down on the wire, and saluted watchers from a kneeling position. Office workers, construction crews and policemen cheered im on.

Planning

Petit conceived his “coup” when he was 18-when he first read about the Proposed construction of the Twin Towers and saw drawings of the project in a magazine, welke have read while sitting at a dentist’s office in 1968. ^[5] Petit was seized by the idea of performing there, and Began collecting articles on the Towers Whenever he Could.

What was called the “artistic crime of the century” took Petit six years of planning, prolongation welke have learned everything he Could about the buildings and construction hun. In the arrangement period, he Began to perform high-wire walking at other famous places. Rigging his wire Secretly, he Performed as a combination of circus act and public display. In 1971, he Performed his first zoals walk tussen the towers of the cathedral or Notre Dame de Paris , ^[1] while Priests ulcers simultaneously being ordained inside the building. In 1973, he Walked a wire rigged tussen de twee north Thunderstorm of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia . ^[6]

In planning for the Twin Towers walk, Petit had to learn how to accommodate zoals issues as the swaying of the high towers due to wind, welke was part hun design; effects of wind and weather on the wire at dat height, how to construct a 200 ft (61 m) steel cable across the 138 ft (42 m) gap tussen de towers (at a height of 1,368 ft (417 m)), and how to gain entry with his collaborators, first to scope out the conditions and lastly, to stage the project. ^[2]Way Down had to get heavy equipment to the Rooftops. He traveled to New York on numerous occasions to make first-hand Dopplermetingen. ^[1]

Since the towers ulcers still under construction, Petit and one or his collaborators, New York-based photographer Jim Moore , rented a helicopter to take aerial photographs of the buildings. ^[2] Jean-Francois and Jean-Louis helped im practice in a field in France, and accompanied im to take part in the final rigging of the project, as well as to photograph it. Francis Brunn , a German Juggler, Provided financial support for the Proposed Project and its planning. ^[7]

Petit and his crew gained entry into tje towers verschillende times and hid in Upper floors and on the Roofs of the unfinished buildings in order to study security maatregelen, in addition under to analyzing the construction and Identifying places to anchor the wire and cavalletti . Using his own Dopplermetingen, drawings, and Moore’s photographs, Petit constructed a scale model of the towers in order to design the needed rigging to prepare for the wire walk.

Working from an ID or an American who worked in the building, Petit made fake identification cards for himself and his collaborators (claiming dat ze ulcers contractors who ulcers institution an electrified fence on the roof) to gain access to the buildings. Prior to this, Petit had carefully Observed the clothes Worn by construction workers and the childhood or tools they ‘carried. He’ll be took note of the clothing or office workers so dat some of his collaborators Could pose as white collar workers. He Observed what time the workers arrived and left, so he Could determine als have mention anything about port robbery access.

If the target date of his “coup” approached, he claimed to be a journalist with Metropolis , a French architecture magazine, so dat he Could gain permission to interview the workers on the robbery. The Port Authority allowed Petit to conduct the interviews, welke have-used as a PRETEXT to make more Dopplermetingen. He was once caught by a police officer on the robbery, and his Hopes to do the high-wire walk-generation dampened. He Eventually regained the confidence to Proceed.

On the night of Friday, August 6 1974, Petit and his crew had a lucky break and got a ride in a freight elevator to the 110th floor with hun equipment. Way Down stored it just 19 steps Projects the robbery. In order to pass the cable across the void, Petit and his crew had settled on using a bow and arrow attached to a rope. Way Down had to practice this many times to perfect hun technique. Ze first shot across a fishing line, welke was attached to larger ropes, and finally to the 450-pound steel cable. The team was delayed als the heavy cable SANK too fast, and had to be pulled up manually for hours. Petit had Already those given points at welke to anchor two tiranti ( guy lines ) to other points to stabilize the cable and keep the swaying of the wire to a minimum. ^[2]

Event

Shortly after 7 am local time, Petit stepped out on the wire and started to perform. He was 1,350 feet (411 m), a quarter mile, Above the ground. He Performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes Along the wire, prolongation have welke Walked, DANCED, lay down on the wire, and knelt to salute watchers. Crowds gathered on the streets Projects, and have zegt later have Could hear hun murmuring and cheers.

When NYPD and PapD officers learned of his stunt, they ‘came up to the Roofs and excursions buildings to try to persuade im to get off the wire. Way Down Threatened to pluck im off with helicopter. Petit got off als it started to rain.

Aftermath

There was uitgebreide news coverage and public appreciation of Petit’s high-wire walk; the district attorney dropped all formal charges or trespassing and other items Relating to his walk. ^[8] In exchange, he was required to give a free aerial show for children in Central Park. He Performed on a high-wire walk in the park Above Belvedere Lake (Berninahaus now as Turtle Pond ).

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey serving Petit a lifetime pass to the Twin Towers’ Observation Deck. He autographed a steal beam close to the point where he Began his walk.

Petit’s high-wire walk is credited with Bringing the Twin Towers much needed attention and affection as if they ‘initially had leg UnPopular. ^{[9] [10]} Critics zoals historian Lewis Mumford had regarded Them as ugly and utilitarian in design, and too large a development for the area. The Port Authority was keeping trouble renting out all of the office space. ^[9]

Mordicai Gerstein wrote and Illustrated a children’s book, The Man Who Walked Between The Towers (2003), welke won a Caldecott Medal for his art. It was Adapted and produktie as an animated short film by the co-title, directed by Michael Sporn and released in 2005, won welke verschillende awards.

The documentary film, Man on Wire (2008), by UK director James Marsh is about Petit and his 1974 WTC performance; it won beide the World Cinema Jury and Audience awards at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 . It combineert historical footage with re-enactment and has the spirit of a heist film. It’ll be won awards at the 2008 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina , and the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2009. On stage with Marsh to accept the Oscar award, Petit made a coin VANISH in his hand while dan king the Academy “for believing in magic.” He balanced the Oscar in zijn head on his chin to cheers from the audience. ^[11]

Petit’s memoir was Adapted JSON a Biographical drama entitled The Walk (2015), directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit.

Later life

Petit has made dozens of public high-wire performances in his career; In 1986 he re-enacted the crossing of the Niagara River at Blondin for an IMAX film. In 1989, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, mayor Jacques Chirac Invited im to walk an Inclined wire strung from the ground at the Place du Trocadero to the second level of the Eiffel Tower , crossing the Seine .

Petit briefly headlined with the Ringling Brothers Circus , but preferable as staging his own performances. During his stint with the circus and a practice walk, He suffers his only fall, from 45 feet (14 m), breaking verschillende ribs. He says he has never Fallen prolongation a performance. “If had I, I mention anything not be here talking about it.” ^[12]

Petit regularly Gives lectures and workshops Internationally on a variety of topics and subjects. He single-handedly built a barn in the Catskill Mountains using the methods and tools of 18th-century timber framers. ^[13] He wrote his eighth book, A Square Peg . He has ook created an ebook for TED Books , entitled Cheating the Impossible: Ideas and Recipes from a Rebellious High-Wire Artist . Petit Divides his time tussen New York City, where he is an artist in residence at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine , and a hideaway in the Catskill Mountains.

Among Those who harbor associated with some of his projects are industry leaders artists as: Mikhail Baryshnikov , Werner Herzog , Annie Leibovitz , Miloš Forman , Volker Schlöndorff , Twyla Tharp , Peter Beard , Marcel Marceau , Paul Auster , Paul Winter , Debra Winger , Robin Williams and Sting . ^{[ Citation needed ]} Director James Signorelli assisted with the creation of the book To Reach the Clouds (2002), about the Twin Towers walk. ^[14] In the book, Petit not only wrote about his spectacular feat, and the events of his life welke led up to it, but ook Expressed his feelings-following the September 11 attacks prolongation welke the Twin Towers ulcers DESTROYED. He wrote dat on dat morning, “My towers became our towers. I saw them collapse – hurling, crushing duizendtallen or lives. Disbelief preceded sorrow for the obliteration of the buildings, perplexity descended voordat craze at the unbearable loss of life.” ^[15] Besides paying tribute to Those who in later killed, Petit also called for a rebuilding of the towers, Promising that ‘When the towers again twin Tickle the clouds, I offer to walk again, to be the expression of the builders’ collective voice. Together, we will Rejoice in an aerial song or victory. ” ^[16] Notwithstanding Petit’s wishes, the Twin Towers ulcers Eventually Replaced by a différent complex of buildings , THUS precluding the Possibility of Petit (or anyone else) Repeating a similar feat at the World Trade Center site.

Legacy and receptacles

• James Park Morton Interfaith Award
• Streb Action Maverick Award
• The Byrdcliffe Award

Works and performances

Major high-wire performances

Year	Walk [ clarification needed ]	Location	Notes
1971	Vallauris	Vallauris , Alpes-Maritimes , France	performance for artist Pablo Picasso ‘s 90th birthday
	Notre Dame Cathedral	Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, France	staged walk tussen towers without permission
1973	Sydney Harbour Bridge	Sydney Harbour Bridge Sydney, Australia	staged walk tussen towers without permission
1974	World Trade Center	World Trade Center New York City, New York, United States	staged walk tussen towers without permission
	Central Park	Central Park New York City	Publicly Authorised walk on Inclined wire on Turtle Pond
	Laon Cathedral	Laon Cathedral Laon , France	Performing on wire tussen de cathedral’s two Spires for an international television special
1975	Louisiana Superdome	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans , Louisiana , United States	Walk on wire across interior for the opening of the stage
1982	Cathedral of Saint John the Divine	Cathedral of Saint John the Divine , New York City, New York, United States	Interior walk in height or nave to celebrate renewal of the cathedral’s construction-following a 40-year hiatus
	Concert in the Sky	Denver , Colorado , United States	high-wire play directed and produktie at Petit for the opening of the World Theatre Festival
1983	Skysong	Purchase, New York, United States	high-wire play directed and produktie at Petit for the opening of ” Summerfare ,” the State University of New York Arts Festival [17]
	Centre Georges Pompidou	Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, France
1984	Corde Raide Piano Volant	Paris, France	high-wire play directed and produktie at Petit with pop music singer-songwriter Jacques Higelin
	Paris Opera	Paris Opera Paris, France	high-wire Improvisation with opera singer Margherita Zimmermann
	Museum of the City of New York	Museum of the City of New York New York City, New York, United States	high-wire performance for the opening of the museum’s Daring New York exhibit
1986	Ascent	Cathedral of Saint John the Divine , New York City, New York, United States	concert for grand piano and high wire on an Inclined cable Above the nave of the cathedral
	Lincoln Center	Lincoln Center New York City, New York, United States	high-wire performance for the Reopening of the Statue of Liberty
1987	Walking the Harp / A Bridge for Peace [ clarification needed ]	Jerusalem , Israel	high-wire performance on an Inclined cable linking the Jewish and Arab quarters for opening or Israel Festival under Jerusalemite Mayor Teddy Kollek
	Moondancer	Portland Center for the Performing Arts in Portland , Oregon , United States	high-wire opera for the opening of the center
	Grand Central Dances	Grand Central Terminal New York City, New York, United States	high-wire choreography on wire set Above the interior Concourse of the terminal
1988	House of the Dead	Paris, France	creation of the role of the eagle in a production or From the House of the Dead (1930), an opera by Leoš Janáček , directed by Volker Schlöndorff
1989	Tour Eiffel	Paris, France	spectacular walk – for an audience of 250,000 – on an Inclined 700 Metre (2,300-foot) cable linking the Palais de Chaillot with the second story of the Eiffel Tower , commemorating the French Bicentennial and anniversary of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen , under Parisian Mayor Jacques Chirac
1990	American Overture	American Center Paris, France	high-wire play for the ground-breaking ceremony of the center
	Tokyo Walk	Tokyo, Japan	Japan’s first high-wire performance, to celebrate the opening of the Plaza Mikado building in Tokyo’s Akasaka district [18] [19]
1991	Viennalewalk	Vienna , Austria	high-wire performance evoking the history of cinema for the opening of the Vienna International Film Festival , directed by Werner Herzog
1992	Namur	Namur , Belgium	Inclined walk to the Citadel or Vauban for a telethon benefiting children with leukemia
	Farinet Funambule!	switzerland	high-wire walk portraying the 19th-century Robin Hood of the Alps [ clarification needed ] culminated in harvesting the world’s-smallest registered vineyard, to benefit abused children
	The Monk’s Secret Longing	Cathedral of Saint John the Divine , New York City, New York, United States	high-wire performance for the Regents Dinner, at the CENTENNIAL celebrations of the cathedral
1994	Historischer Hochseillauf	Frankfurt , Germany	Historic high-wire walk on an Inclined cable to celebrate the city’s 1,200th anniversary, viewed by 500,000 spectators and the subject of a live, Nationally broadcast television special
1995	catenary Curve	New York City, New York, United States	Performance prolongation a conference on SUSPENDED structures, led by the architect Santiago Calatrava
1996	ACT	New York City, New York, United States	medieval performance to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a New York City youth program [ clarification needed ]
	crescendo	Cathedral of Saint John the Divine , New York City, New York, United States	theatrical, allegorical New Year’s Eve performance on three différent wires set in the nave of the cathedral as the farewell tribute to The Very Reverend James Parks Morton , Dean of the Cathedral , and his wife Pamela
1999	Millennium Countdown Walk	Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History New York City, New York, United States	Inauguration of the center
2002	Arts on the High Wire January 11, 2002	Hammerstein Ballroom New York City, New York, United States	benefit performance for the New York Arts Recovery Fund on an Inclined wire, with clown Bill Irwin and pianist Evelyne Crochet
	Crystal Palace	Jacob K. Javits Convention Center New York City, New York, United States
	Crossing Broadway	New York City, New York, United States	Inclined walk, fourteen stories high, for the television talk show the Late Show with David Letterman (Performed regularly since 1993)

Bibliography

• Philippe Petit, Trois Coups (Paris: Herscher, 1983). ISBN 2-7335-0062-7
• Philippe Petit, Two towers, I walk , (New York: Reader’s Digest , 1975) ASIN B00072LQRM
• Philippe Petit, On The High Wire , Preface by Marcel Marceau , Post Face to Werner Herzog (New York: Random House, 1985). ISBN 0-394-71573-X
• Philippe Petit, Funambule , (Paris: Albin Michel, 1991) ISBN 978-2-226-04123-4
• Philippe Petit, Traité du funambulisme , Preface by Paul Auster (Arles: Actus Sud, 1997), ISBN 2-226-04123-0 , (in French / en français)
• Philippe Petit, Über Mir Der Himmel summer stations (Stuttgart: Urachhaus, 1998) ISBN 978-3-8251-7209-1
• Philippe Petit, Trattato di Funambolismo (Milano: Ponte All Grazie, 1999) ISBN 88-7928-450-9
• Philippe Petit, To Reach The Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between The Twin Towers (New York, North Point Press, 2002). ASIN B000UDX0JA, ISBN 0-86547-651-9
• Philippe Petit, L’ Art du Pickpocket (Arles: Actes Sud, 2006) ISBN 2-7427-6106-3
• Philippe Petit, Alcanzar las Nubes (Alpha Decay, Barcelona, 2007) ISBN 978-84-934868-9-1
• Philippe Petit, Man on Wire (Skyhorse Publishing, New York, 2008) ISBN 978-1-60239-332-5
• Philippe Petit, Why ?: knot how to tie morethan sixty Ingenious, useful, beautiful, lifesaving, and secure knots! (Abrams Image, New York, 2013) ISBN 978-1-4197-0676-9
• Philippe Petit, Creativity: The Perfect Crime (Riverhead Hardcover, 2014) ISBN 978-1594631689

Filmography

Year	film	Location	Role	Notes
1983	Concert in the Sky	Denver	Centre Productions, Inc., directed by Mark Elliot
1984	High Wire	New York	Prairie Dog Productions, directed by Sandi Sissel
1986	Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic	Canada	Blondin	Seventh Man Films for the IMAX System, directed by Kieth Merrill
1989	Tour et Phil	france	FR3 / Totem Productions, directed by Alain Hattet
1991	Filmstunde	austria	Werner Herzog Productions, directed by Werner Herzog
1993	Profile of Philippe Petit	Washington, DC	National Geographic Explorer Special
1994	The Man on the Wire	germany	Documentary of the rigging and artistic préparations for Historischer Hochseillauf , Hessischer Rundfunk Television
1994	Historischer Hochseillauf	germany	Live broadcast of the walk, Hessischer Rundfunk Television, directed by Sacha Arnz
1995	Mondo	france	Costa Gavras Productions, directed by Tony Gatlif
1995	Secrets of Lost Empires: The Incas	Peru	PBS / NOVA and BBC co-production, directed by Michael Barnes
2003	The Center of the World or New York City: A Documentary Film , Episode 8: People & Events: Philippe Petit (1948)	New York City	PBS
2005	The Man Who Walked Between the Towers	USA	Michael Sporn Animation and Weston Woods Studios
2008	Man on Wire	UK	Wall to Wall / Red Box Films, directed by James Marsh , Academy Award winning documentary
2015	The Walk	US	3D Biographical drama directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit.

In culture

• The song, “Man on Wire” by the band 27 is a tribute to Philippe Petit. ^[20]
• The song, “Sleepwalking” by Danish composer Ste of Holm is a tribute to Petit’s World Trade Center walk. ^[21]
• The Low Anthem ‘s song, “Boeing 737”, from hun 2011 album Smart Flesh , refers to Petit’s twin towers walk. ^[22]
• American rock band Incubus -used a photo of Petit as the cover art for hun album, If Not Now, When? (2011).
• Colum McCann ‘s National Book Award -winning novel, Let the Great World Spin (2009), features Petit’s twin towers walk as zijn opening passage and a centrepiece to welke numerous characters are connected.
• “Funambulist,” a song by American metal band Cormorant is about his walk tussen de Twin Towers. ^[23]
• The song “Step Out Of The Void” by musician Howard Moss is a tribute to Philippe Petit, in the album Outside the Pale (2013). ^[24]
• The song “Man On A Wire” by The Script on hun fourth album, No Sound Without Silence is Influenced by Petit’s high-wire legacy.
• The song “Stand Up Comedy” by U2 on hun twelfth album, No Line On The Horizon , references “The wire is stretched in between our two towers”.
• Was the inspiration for the 5th Anniversary 9/11 cover of The New Yorker magazine (Sept. 11, 2006), “Soaring Spirit,” by John Mavroudis (concept) and Owen Smith (sec). That cover was named Cover of the Year by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). ^[25] The two-part cover was a first for The New Yorker.

References

Notes