Eskil Rønningsbakken (born 24 June 1979) is an
extreme artist from Vallset in
Stange
is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen. Other villages include Bekkelaget, Espa, Bottenfjellet, Il ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
.
[Berglund, Nina]
"Performer drops Letterman after US bombing."
''Aftenposten'', January 17, 2006. Accessed on August 9, 2010. Rønningsbakken travels the world performing
balancing acts at the tops of lethal
drops, such as canyons and cliffs.
His feats include
tightrope walking
Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...
between two
hot air balloon
A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...
s in flight and doing a
handstand
A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand, the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder-width apar ...
on a pile of chairs balanced on a rock wedged in a crevice between two cliffs that were 3,500 feet tall. He practices
yoga
Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
,
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
, and
breathing techniques to stay focused, and prepares extensively for each act.
Rønningsbakken joined the
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 unicy ...
at the age of 12, but has been practicing in various forms since the age of five, where, as the youngest of three children, he spent his time in the Norwegian countryside climbing trees and playing on rooftops.
[Cheang, Michael]
"A Higher Art."
''The Star: Online,'' August 26, 2008. Accessed on August 10, 2010. At an early age, when watching
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
, he was inspired by footage of an
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n
yogi
A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331 ...
balancing, and decided to devote himself to the art. He later improved his craft under the tutelage of
Moscow State Circus
The title Moscow State Circus is used for a variety of circuses. Most commonly, it refers to one of the two circus buildings in Moscow, the "Circus Nikulin" (the old circus, featuring animal acts) and the "Bolshoi Circus" (the new circus, featu ...
trainer Peter Jakob. He has also begun to teach others his techniques. Rønningsbakken has visited the slums of
Nairobi
Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
in the hopes of inspiring lifelong confidence in the youth by teaching them acrobatics.
"Nat Geo AMAZING!: Unbalanced."
''Spotlight,'' July 15, 2010. Accessed on August 9, 2010.
Rønningsbakken’s current goal is to perform a one-handed handstand at the top of the Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but inc ...
in Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, which, as of January 2010, was the tallest man-made structure ever built.[Croucher, Martin]
"Daredevil Plans Handstand on Top of Burj Dubai."
''Khaleej Times: Online'', April 20, 2009. Accessed on August 10, 2010. Explaining his motives, he says, "When you only have five fingers touching the building, you feel like you are flying."
References
External links
Photos from the Guardian
Global Balancing: Eskil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronningsbakken, Eskil
Norwegian stunt performers
Tightrope walkers
Norwegian artists
Living people
1979 births
People from Stange