Tancrède Melet (1983 – 5 January 2016) was a French slackliner.

Biography

Born in 1983 in

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

, Melet grew up in

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

before becoming an engineer. He worked as an engineer for four years before quitting in 2008 to turn his full attention to outdoor sports with Julien Millot. The pair began with the slackline and more particularly an elevated version of it known as the highline. After a few years, Melet started focusing on

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

, presenting himself as an "artist of the void." He was the co-founder of the ''Flying Frenchies'', a group which combines artists, athletes and engineers. Melet, as well as the group, became known for mixing traditional circus arts (

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 ...

, Korean

Teeterboard The teeterboard or Korean plank is an acrobatic apparatus that resembles a playground seesaw. The strongest teeterboards are made of oak (usually 9 feet in length). The board is divided in the middle by a fulcrum made of welded steel. At each end ...

) with more daring stunts (

BASE jumping BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

). On January 5, 2016, while preparing a show, he died in Aurel as a result of a fall from a

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 ...

that had dragged him up while taking off.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melet, Tancrede 1983 births 2016 deaths French stunt performers Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in France People from Laxou