IN PICTURES: Tightrope Walker Wows Spectators With Daring Paris Performance

Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga, who was not wearing any safety equipment, walked across a rope suspended 115 feet above the ground.
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PARIS, July 21 (Reuters) ― French tightrope artist Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga impressed hundreds of Parisians on Saturday with a performance that featured a walk on a rope suspended 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.

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“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 practicing tightrope walking, also called funambulism, maintain their balance by positioning their center of mass directly over their base of support, a rope or a wire.

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

Scroll down for photographs of her Paris stunt:

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(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Matthias Blamont Editing by James Dalgleish)

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