French tightrope walker stuns Parisians

French tightrope artist Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga impressed hundreds of Parisians on Saturday with a performance that featured a walk on a rope suspended 35 metres (115 feet) above the ground in the city’s hilly northern district of Montmartre.

Bongonga, 34, walked on a rope suspended by a crane at the base of the hill’s steps towards the Sacre Coeur basilica accompanied by a chamber orchestra, without any security equipment, a gesture many in the audience found nerve-wracking.

“It’s very surprising and very dangerous. It really impressed me, actually. I noticed that she was not secured. There was a lot of acrobatics. I had a really good time,” spectator Jennifer Mandelbaum told Reuters.

Acrobats practising tightrope walking, also called funambulism, maintain their balance by positioning their centre of mass directly over their base of support, a rope or a wire.

Bongonga, who prepared for the show for a year, has been practising tightrope walking since she was 8.