The folks at La Nouba set a new world record for the largest number of people standing on stilts. The event was held simultaneously in Las Vega, New York, Montreal (Canada), Fortaleza (Brazil), Lisbon (Portugal), Macau (China), Nagoys (Japan) and Tokio (Japan). In Orlando 119 people gathered for this short yet festive occasion. People from all over Orlando gathered in order to help set this new Guinness World Record. The stilt walkers paraded around the Disney Marketplace and then they gathered in the square in front of the La Nouba tent. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer stood before the crowd and declared the day “Cirque du Soleil Day” in Orlando”.
119 stilt walkers seems to represent Orlando’s culture at its best. It is ironic that Cirque got its start with small street performances, because in downtown Orlando street performance artists are outlawed. Probably with the way the law is written, I am breaking the law every time I sketch in public. From Disney I drove straight to a Friends of the Philharmonic meeting. When I arrived David Shillhammer, the Philharmonic’s Executive Director, was lamenting the death of the Orlando Opera to the crowd that had gathered. The Opera declared bankruptcy last month. He then outlined ways that the Philharmonic is working towards helping bring a limited staged Opera Production back to Orlando.
