Slack Rope

The Slack Rope refers to the equipment used by a performer engaged in slackrope walking or slacklining, i.e. the act or skill of walking on the slack rope as an acrobatic skill, similarly to tightrope walking, and is often used by acrobats, clowns and comedians as a circus, music hall or vaudeville act.

According to Bosman, 1928: p.227), it was particularly popular in the mid-1800s in South Africa. See for example Monsieur Dupree (1833).

A modern form of the slack rope walking is an "extreme sport" version, which arose in the late 1970s, and the activity is today called "Slacklining".

See also: Tightrope walking.

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