Michelle Rainbow Dave Frost

So some years ago I did a 13.5 mile marathon on wooden "Chinese pole" stilts for the Hope and Healing foundation, a wonderful breast cancer foundation that helps curb some of the needs of those with this particular cancer. But what does this have to do with Michele you may ask? Well, it warms my soul to learn of other stilt walkers that use their talents for purposes such as this and this brings us to Michele, I found Michele via Facebook and I am glad our cyber paths have crossed. Here is her story~

Residing out of Kempston, United Kingdom she got the news that she was offered a charity place for the London Marathon. It was a spur of the moment idea for her to email the charity to see if they had spaces going, and now they got back to her saying some of their runners had dropped out. So she decided to do it...... on stilts!!!

She was running for Reach, a charity that looks after children born with upper limb deficiencies and needed to raise a minimum of £750 for the charity and event. The plan is to do the marathon on 4ft poles, and to be wearing bright clothing on which would be the names of everyone who donated towards this!


Well, yes she did the London Marathon April 2008, and with it's completion found herself officially in the Guinness Book of World records 2009 edition for completing the fastest marathon on stilts in 8hours and 25minutes!




So with last years marathon under her belt she has decided to do the 2009, and you may help her with donations if you click this link "Help Michelle!"it will take you to the proper page and you may donate what you can to help her on her path. Kudos to you my dear! And I am happy to say your inspiration awakened a part of me that has been a sleep for a bit of time, thank you my dear.

Below is a image of me and one of the founders of the foundation I walked, now it was only 13.5 miles and I completed it in 5hrs and 15minutes, and then Michelle informed me recently that she had to do a half marathon before the real thing (13.1 miles) and that it took her 4 hours all of them on 4ft pegs. Way to go my dear!

So my fellow readers, if there is a will there is definitely a way, and giving is well worth the receiving. I hope this inspires others to use their skills in ways to better the world as a whole than just for themselves.

Mr Alexander Böck

We have to thank Mr Alexander Böck for the invention of these stilts. Very little is known about the inventor himself but it is said that the jumping stilts were created based on his in-depth research into the walking and running movements of the kangaroo, the stilt was developed and evolved over time to mimic this and now offers the end-user boundless possibilities. It is widely recognized within the sport that once mastered you can run faster than 20mph and jump 7ft high!

The biggest exposure the stilts saw was when the jumping stilts were featured in an advert for Zurich with the slogan "Because change happens" in which it asks "What if your product goes global?

Luckily for Mr Böck his stilts have gone global and are now protected by a patent in most countries. One of his patent images can be seen below and surprisingly it was originally patented as "A Device for helping a person to walk!"

The brand that Mr Böck created and now sells himself is called "Powerskip". These stilts are regarded as the best and are used mainly by professional performing artists such as "Swebounce" whom you can view in their promo video below!

Types

Traditional circus arts train stilt walkers with "pegged" stilts, these stilts, as with most strap to ones shin and foot plate leaving the walker to balance on a rubber covered "pegged" feet. This type of stilt is very good for walking upon uneven ground and forces the individual to center their balance more directly without the aid of a added "foot" to the base of the stilt.



Voltige stilts are a modified version of a pegged stilt typical of French circus specialist with a stylish and practical design. The stilts support the backs of your calves and allow you to stand on top of the stilts rather than to one side. The telescopic tubular design enables quick and easy adjustment between a variety of height adjustments.



The above image is that of a standard pair of "drywall" stilts, they are used in construction/framing to help apply sheet rock for creating walls, these stilts are most favored in the construction field of work because they allow the user to actually stand motionless for good moments of time. Some types of these stilts have a articulated toe and heel to aid in the maneuverability of the stilt walker, these are very adjustable....some will generally extend up to "48. Personally I tend to stay away from these stilts for various reasons like, weight, bulk, sound (they tend to squeak if not well oiled) and can create a false confidence in actual control of balance.




Currently, the latest design in stilt technology are "Velocity" or "Power Jumpers" , these reflect back to a pegged foot type design, and the wearer is secured into these via a shin guard and foot plate housing. A very aerobic stilt that has a high tech spring which allows the user to make up to 7ft strides 9ft leaps, and move upwards to 20+ miles per hour on them, there are many different companies that fabricate these types of stilts....but I suggest one takes a look at Stiltwerks-Inc. out of Las Vegas, Neveda. The owner Jeff Jay has patented many a design for a variety of stilts and I believe viewing his website is worth it for any stilt walking enthusiasts.

Below is a teaser of some video footage of some of these stilts in action!

A Late Night Stroll

So last month as I headed home from work I decided to send out a text message to some fellow stilt walkers and wait to see what happens. The message was as follows~

Let's take a walk down Broadway, no rhyme or reason, dress to impress....who's up for it?

Well Asraiya responded, I believe the last time I stilt walked with her was for a Petting Zoo Players gig in Tacoma for New Years Eve, the client wanted three stilt walkers and As jumped at the offer but was lacking in the stilt department. Luckily for her and the PZP, a Movement Instructor of mine by the name of George Lewis contacted me in regards to some stilts I fabricated for a production of Shakespeare' "The Tempest". He stated that he was moving and wanted to know if I would hold onto them for him, so this is how Asriaya obtained a pair of stilts to join me with this summer stroll.

We walked about 25 city blocks that night, in a couple hours, and we strolled down hills and back up them too...along the way my housemate Guage joined us, his pockets were packed with Magic and he was raring to go. The photo above was a break moment....going down hill can be physically trying as compared to walking uphill on stilts...you may not think so, but it's the truth.

For the Love of it!

I am publishing this particular blog out of love, love for a Mother and daughter, love for the thoughts I am about to share, and for the love of those who may become future stilt walkers of the world.



I met a wonderful woman of the name, Roberta M. (Bobby), and she started a email via a Buskers discussion page for her daughter Heather's stilt walking ability, she will either take over all Internet correspondences one day or Bobby will continue to have to do the management work.

Her daughter has named her "manager" for she does the management work for her daughters stilt waking talents, Bobby believes she does not do anything special for she is just a ground worker....yet special she truly is. And below is the email/letter she sent out the Busker Group~

"Heather is 16, walks on drywall stilts, Juggles, and blows bubbles. She just got, in the last month, Voltige peg stilts(45cm, 90cm, 110cm) and she likes them more than the dry wall stilts because they are much lighter. But she is not yet entirely comfortable with them. She can't stand completely still on them yet, and she wants too. But she found she has more freedom of movement with the peg stilts. She is really working on them.

She has been walking on drywall stilts for about 3yrs, and performing for almost 2 1/2. She has been in dance classes for about 9yrs and attributes her balance to it."

It started when, as a family Bobby had her costuming Star Wars. Heather insisted that she wanted to be Chewbacca. Bobby told her that as a family they were way to short and that she would have to learn how to walk on stilts. They got the dry wall stilts for the stability with a heavy Wookiee costume and mask. Their neighbor then decided that she would make a great addition to a school fund raiser where she taught, this lead to them making pants and tops for these events. They never thought that Heathers desire to be a Wookiee would grow into this much fun, and they do love to doing stilted events. They still have yet to make the Chewie costume yet.
Bobby is not the only one to support her in stilts, her Grandfather helped me teach her how to stilt. Neither one of us knew how, we just bought the stilts, strapped them on and yanked her to her feet. She was much more ready to let go of my hand than I was to let hers go. Story of a mother's life. My mother makes all her costumes (except the few regular cloths that end up in the mix).



We hope to make some money at this on a limited basis. This
currently is not meant to be her life's work. She wants to be a veterinarian and probably a busker on the side. Because of all these web sites and message boards I have recently found that might be possible.

Oh my dear, making money providing ambiance while on stilts is VERY possible, I myself have been doing it since 1999. I suggest a starting rate of $50 to $75 a hour for now and this can lead upwards to $200 an hour with time, and of course children/charity gigs shall always take the financial bite in the wallet...it is the right thing to do.

Our best performance experience is the confidence that the Children's Hospital puts in her for every event that they want her to participate in. Our worst is when second or third parties don't take her serious. One case in point, a friend who has a business wanted her to stilt on a special day, then the friend's insurance man said that if we showed up with stilts that they would drop the business coverage. Our own school refuses to let her stilt on school property on school time. But the community fair held at the school has her stilt. We don't fight those who seem to be narrow minded. Lets face it even when one wins an argument the hurt feelings won't change the out come.

My suggestion for the future, and to squash any problems that may arise over stilt walking is to check out Clowns of the U.S. because they offer insurance policies for entertainers and stilt walkers are part of the same group. It costs $200 for a 1 year coverage policy...but the insurance policy is good for up to 2-4 million dollars! So now you can imagine if there is a client/school/insurance company issue over the risk of having her perform on stilts at anytime, she can whip out a 2-4 million dollar coverage policy that will leave any future verbal concerns very quiet.

Neil Sauter

Photo is courtesy of Neil Sauters website.

A man raised funds for cerebral palsy with 830-mile (1,335-kilometer) trek on stilts, it is so great to see that another person shares similar thought of a selfless act. I have been working on a project with the same intentions titled the Faith and Healing Tour, click that link for more information about my vision.

In Ironwood, Michigan - A 24-year-old man has completed an 830-mile (1,335-kilometer) trek on aluminum stilts across Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas to make people aware of cerebral palsy.


United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan reports that Neil Sauter (click on his name to see his personal website) has ended his eight-week journey Friday in Ironwood, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula border with Wisconsin. He began walking in early May from Lambertville in southeast Michigan.


Sauter has raised $16,000 for United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan. A 3-1 matching federal grant pushes that total to $64,000.


Sauter has mild cerebral palsy and used three pairs of stilts on the walk, and at the date of this blog he has currently raised over $73,000 for United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan!

He has a few other projects in the works and he is still accepting donations, I tip my hat to you Neil, and I look forward to meeting you some day.

Seattle Gay Pride 2008

I have been hired by a company a few times called Safeco Insurance and they apparently really enjoy my stilt walking ambiance, this year they called me up and asked if I was willing to help represent them in the Seattle Gay Pride 2008 parade. Of course I said yes, they always have paid what I ask for and even though I am not gay, I am generally happy most of the time.
So I pulled out a costume of a new type of character that I have not giving a name to, nor even a voice actually....I feel like it is really just a internal radiance that I have needed to bring out externally.
Below is a video that is posted courtesy of ed119 off of You Tube, and after the dikes on bikes you will see the first stilt walker of the parade....and yep, that's me!