A Danish pole is a
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...
prop, consisting of a
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
en pole about 4 metres long and with a 5 cm diameter. It is fastened to a turnable base on the bottom and to a
rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...
on top. The rope can be slackened, causing the pole to hang at an angle and permitting the
artists to swing the pole around the base and do
acrobatic
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...
s on it while it turns. The rope can also be tightened, causing the pole to stand directly up in the air and allowing the artists to do more traditional pole acrobatics.
History
The Danish pole is a relatively new circus prop, invented by the Danish artist
Anders Jensen Astrup.
It has been used in at least two
contemporary circus
Contemporary circus (also known as new circus, and ''nouveau cirque'' and ''cirque contemporain'' in French-speaking countries) is a genre of performing arts developed in the late 20th century in which a story or theme is conveyed through traditio ...
shows: ''
99% Unknown'' by
Cirkus Cirkör Cirkus Cirkör is a Swedish circus company, and is today Scandinavia's leading performing circus company within the art form of contemporary circus. Cirkus Cirkör has toured the world with a number of successful and praised circus shows. The compan ...
and ''
Roundabout''
Roundabout at Kanonhallen's website
by Nova Exit.
See also
*German wheel
Wheel gymnastics (German: Rhönradturnen) is a form of gymnastics that originated in Germany. Wheel gymnasts do exercises in a large wheel or hoop known as the Rhönrad, gymnastics wheel, gym wheel, or German wheel, in the beginning also kn ...
*Chinese pole
Chinese poles are vertical poles on which circus performers climb, slide down and hold poses. The poles are generally between in height and approximately in diameter. Some poles have a slightly larger pole that rotates around the static central ...
Footnotes
{{reflist
Circus equipment