standing in air

[fran]

A couple nights ago I was stiltwalking on a noisy, crowded beach front tourist street and completely 'lost my nerve', i couldn't even dance in a cleared street circle (though i should note that while leaning up against a building in a cold sweat, i noticed that people don't look up and probably pirated some else's act but he's half a planet away and can beat me up next time he's in town). I was horribly embarrassed and didn't know what to say to the person who had hired me, it all sounded like lame excuses.

So has this happened to anyone else? What did you do to salvage yourself?

fran

[Rich Potter]

It's happened to me. What I did was get on Performers.net and ramble incoherently and hope for someone to respond.

Seriously, from what I gather, you freaked out on your stilts. Sounds like you're new at it and that you need practice. Either that, or you need to practice calming your mind.

Stiltwalking is potentially dangerous yes. For you, and the people who don't see you. You need to be hyper-aware AT ALL TIMES, of 360 degrees around you and below you. If you can't be comfortable with that, you probably shouldn't be doing the work.

It's different to play around on stilts in your back yard alone. There is no distraction or focus stealers.

If you are truly ready to hire out on your stilts, start out any gig by getting a feel for your surroundings. Don't dance. Just walk around a bit and feel for the pace and direction(s) of the traffic. Get ready to stop at any moment. Make sure the people who don't see you see you. Make damned sure you are clear before you do anything wild. But take it slowly. Start with something a little bigger than walking. Maybe a little cross-step.

Take a deep breath if you are nervous and imagine yourself in your backyard with a crowd.

Lastly, I see no point in walking stilts higher than 1 meter (3 feet) for a walkaround gig. Personally, I do 2-footers.

--Rich
(acrophobic stiltwalker for Ringling Bros., 1988-1989)

[martin ewen]

What!
You lent up against a building?
Thats my whole act!
Seriously we all suffer similar attacks.
Out of nowhere a barrage of questions batter you. 'I'm twice as tall as everyone and I've made myself a specticle, do they care, do I care, will I still be doing this when I'm 70, does any fee justify my acute embarrassment, what do I do with all this attention, who are these people and why should I like them, I wonder whats on TV, I need to buy cornflakes, thats GOT to be a wig.
Develop a character that can cope is my advice.
Good luck

[Chance]

Fran, how can your email address be "not available"? Wasn't one required by the Host when you logged on?? Why not help us build up the community???

[fran]

must have made a blunder on the registration, Chance, i'll see if i can fix it on my next insomnia fit. francansew@yahoo.com

thanks for the support guys!

[Steven Ragatz]

Apart from the advice that others have given concerning mastering the performance content and character, I would add something about the stilt equipment.

If you suffer from lost nerve on stilts, you could try improving the stilts themselves to make them more stable, thereby giving your more freedom to concentrate on other things. If you can make the equipment more reliable and dependable, then you may be able to focus less on the technique and more on the performing.

I am always surprised when I see other’s stilt configurations. To each is own, but to my eye, most of the homegrown stilts that I have seen look unstable and dangerous. Chances are they are fine to their owners who are used to the feel.

If you are using articulated stilts like painter’s stilts or “bigfoot” stilts, then give them a good overhaul and make sure that all of the parts are tight and that the leg brace is adjusted correctly for your height. I prefer a very tight fit in the boot and on the leg. Use a heavy shoe/boot fixed to the footplate. Use wide straps across the foot and around the legs.

If you are using straight pole stilts then make sure that the footpad is adequate and not compromised. The straight stilts can be either along the outside of the leg or down from the center of the foot. I prefer the latter, as they do not add any lateral pressure on the knee and the weight is distributed through the skeleton down the leg. I like to have the stilt be an extension of my leg and not feel like it is just attached to the bottom. Again, use a very secure boot with a high ankle and wide straps to assure and adequate and comfortable fit. My straight stilts use an inline skate boot that provides great ankle support and quick release for fast costume changes. It also guarantees that the stilt pole is centered along the foot.

I have never used a wood stilt because the threat of breaking worries me. A couple of times the aluminum stilts have gotten bent, but they have never completely sheered. Bent poles will still support where as missing poles aren’t much use. I have had the leg pole collapse or simply fall out completely, but those incidents were due to equipment failure and my own negligence.

If you are worried about falling, then perhaps you can incorporate pads into your costume? Although knees and elbows are the most threatened joints in a stilt fall, and pads wont help them much if you are leveraging your weight against the joint, you could use wrist guards or elbow/knee pads if that would improve your confidence.

On a related not, perhaps you could practice falling. Although I never did this, some of the people that I have trained benefited from actually rehearsing a controlled fall into a crash mat. Once they were able to gauge the height and how it felt to go down, they were much more confident. A controlled fall requires you to remember not to try to catch yourself with your arms, but rather try to roll into the fall with a shoulder roll. If you are using arm stilts, then you will want to practice ditching them in the event of a fall, assuming that they are not strapped on. I don’t think that you want to have the added troubles of having your arm poles get tangled up with the leg poles in the event of a fall, so getting rid of them can help enable you to control the decent. You could also spend some time training in a spotting belt to really test the limits of the equipment and your range of balance.

Stilts, even short ones, are deceptively dangerous. It seems that one can work with them for years at a time without any problems, but then when there is a mistake, the ramifications of that mistake can be dramatic. Never underestimate the damage that you can do to yourself or the audience in a fall. Don’t dwell on it, and don’t place that imagery of the big wipe out in your mind, but also don’t be passive about safety.

Steven Ragatz

PS. My latest stilt design that has some interesting features to it. I have used the first version of this straight stilt design in about a dozen shows over the past two years with good success. The look is a bit clunky, but the feel is excellent and they are very stable, adjustable and break down for travel. I would be happy to share pictures and my experience having them fabricated with anyone interested.

[Todd]

I'll second on Steves suggestion about learning to do a controlled fall. I've done a lot of acro in the past few years, and have found that the ability of take a controlled fall has given me more confidence to try 'new' moves. I'm pretty confident of my ability to adjust/correct/bailout safely if things go wonky. Just knowing I have a 'back-up' plan/skill helps.
Call around to some gymnastic trainers and see if they will work with you. They may well start you out falling into a 'port-o-pit' so you can get used to a fall and play with form.
Just knowing you can take a fall will boost your confidence 100 fold.

[This message has been edited by Todd (edited 06-28-2001).]

[martin ewen]

Just one more thing.
NEVER dance into an overhead fan.
You will slash your forehead and bleed on people some of whom will faint and for the next 3 weeks untill the stitches come out, everyone will laugh and call you frankenstien behind your back.
Also, if drunk people throw paper money on the ground and tell you you can keep it if you can pick it up, wait untill they go to pick it back up themselves then fall on them. You have a 50/50 chance of grabbing the note.

[fran]

did a couple of falls on the grass last night, sometimes i ned to remind myself that it doesn't hurt *that* bad. i think the people who scare me the most are the ones that have their arms full of food and their back towards you and looking like they're about ready to break off their conversation.

maybe i should invest in a slingshot...

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[Stretch]

People with food in their hands are my "bread and butter" so to speak. I carry a fork with a looong telescoping handle and use it to stalk those appetizing morsels.

Walking tall and stretching imaginations!

Bill "Stretch" Coleman

http://Stiltwalker.com/

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by fran:
did a couple of falls on the grass last night, sometimes i ned to remind myself that it doesn't hurt *that* bad. i think the people who scare me the most are the ones that have their arms full of food and their back towards you and looking like they're about ready to break off their conversation.

maybe i should invest in a slingshot...

------------------
Walking tall and stretching imaginations!
Bill 'Stretch' Coleman

[Pokie-Poke]

I was thinking of making some stilts and all thou wood is my first choice I am open to sudgestions. the in line skate boot is a good one.

Also on safty watch arownd you. I was kicked buy a stilt walker at the end of a parade he was tired and fell, got me right over my knee, hit another guy in the head and we all went doun like a tun of bricks! luckly it missed my knee and only glanced the other guy.