The flying trapeze is a specific form of the trapeze in which a performer jumps from a platform with the trapeze so that gravity makes the trapeze swing.
The performance was invented in 1859, by a Frenchman named Jules Leotard who connected a bar to some ventilator cords above the swimming pool in his father's gymnasium in Toulouse, France. After practicing tricks above the pool, Leotard performed his act in the Cirque Napoleon (now known as the Cirque d'hiver). The traditional flier's costume, the leotard, is named after him.
Read more about Flying Trapeze: Trapeze Acts, Safety, Terminology, Tricks
Famous quotes containing the word flying:
“He was last seen flying to New York.
He was handing out cards which read:
“He wears a question in his left eye.
He dislikes the police but will associate with them.
He will demand something not on the menu.
He is invisible to the eyes of beauty and culture....””
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)