When he was younger, Nathan Paulin was "not comfortable with emptiness." This 29-year-old Haut-Savoyard has since caught up well and has even overcome this "fragility". Crowned with several world records, this highliner (tightrope walker at altitude) is the author of a 2.2 km long crossing to the summit of Mont Saint-Michel (Manche), in May 2022.
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This Wednesday evening, in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), the tightrope walker will progress this time 50 m above the ground between the emblematic Lantern Tower and its neighbor, the Saint-Nicolas Tower. Between the two, Nathan Paulin will cross the tower of the Chain and will cover a distance of 277 m.
This performance is accompanied by a show resulting from a collaboration between the Centre des monuments nationaux and the Théâtre national de Chaillot – the only one dedicated solely to dance. Called "Monuments in motion", this event aims to combine artistic proposals and architectural heritage by creating a common language. In La Rochelle, nine acrobats will accompany Nathan Paulin in this visual and sound creation by Rachid Ouramdane, the director of the Théâtre de Chaillot who hopes to "create a state of contemplation" at the gates of the old port.
The show awaited in Bordeaux and at the citadel of Mont-Dauphin
Nathan Paulin is already delighted to evolve in this atypical setting, "between land and sea", at the request of the Centre des monuments nationaux. The tightrope walker will start on a wide strap of... 2 cm, "thinner than usual" to gain stability. And it doesn't matter if the offshore wind mingles with the spectators: "A light breeze stabilizes the strap and prevents the waves from propagating there. Without wind, it would be more complicated! »
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Unlike the tightrope walkers of yesteryear, Nathan Paulin does not use any pendulum. Its strap, unwound using a drone, is also not stretched. Does he apprehend this demonstration? No more than that, smiles the twenty-year-old who will not attempt a new record here: "It does not change anything anyway, everything is only played in the head". This same show will then be programmed in Bordeaux, between the Pey-Berland Tower and Saint-André Cathedral this Friday, June 9, then in the heart of the fortified village of Mont-Dauphin on July 26.
This Wednesday, 7 June, at 19 p.m. Free show to discover from the esplanade Saint-Jean-d'Acre in La Rochelle.