ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses social, theoretical, and political concerns in analyzing western modernity, urbanization, and body and dance politics. I contend that the tightwire performer’s act illuminates crucial questions of western modernity: paradoxes around individual freedom, territorial and spatial conquest, and subjectivity. Two famous high-wire performances serve to illustrate my arguments: Nik Wallenda’s “Grand Canyon Crossing” and Philippe Petit’s “Twin Tower Crossing.” Writings by Paul Carter and André Lepecki support my argument that Wallenda’s tightwire act can be interpreted as an artistic endeavor that attempts to dominate space, both vertically and horizontally, and thus serves as a critical metaphor for the western concept of colonization. However, I attend to alternatives to the pressure of efficiency and pragmatism—the crucial elements of modern western societies. By bringing into conversation Paul Valéry’s understanding of poetics and Steve Paxton’s notion of “small dance,” it is suggested that Philippe Petit’s tightwire crossing is qualitatively different from Nik Wallenda’s feats. Petit’s Twin Tower crossing breaks the linearity of both wires and prescribed patterns of modern life instead of simply reaffirming them.
