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At 73, ‘Man on Wire’ Philippe Petit still dances high above the void

The high-wire artist, who traversed the expanse of the National Building Museum Thursday, became a legend for walking between the Twin Towers in 1974. But it was never about the height, he says.

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March 24, 2023 at 12:41 a.m. EDT
High-wire artist Philippe Petit, 73, smiles during his performance inside the National Building Museum in Washington on March 23. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
8 min

Philippe Petit could be immortal. It’s the only explanation for how someone could step onto a cable strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center — a plunge of 1,350 feet — and not merely survive the walk, but transform it into a dance, an art.

That was in 1974. He was 24 years old then. He is 73 now and still doing it. But the plunge from the top of a 100-foot-long wire he strung across the great hall of the National Building Museum for a Thursday night performance was a mere 50 feet — still a potentially fatal height, but a far cry from the stunts of his youth.