Manuel Mendes, 37, of Lisbon, Portugal, is performing at the Manatee County Fair as a high-diver. During the shows produced by Water Show Productions Inc., he dives into a pool that is 10 feet deep by 26 feet across. He dives from progressively higher platforms on a tower bedecked with flags.
He and his colleague, Dana Kunze, 48, of Minneapolis, do flips and twists as they go down.
The climax of the show comes when Mendes dramatically starts to climb the tower for a dive from a 80-foot height.
He climbs slowly. The audience only sees him from the back as he goes up and up. When he finally gets to the top, he throws his flip-flops and they flutter down like little birds.
Then it is quiet as the audience waits.
He is so far up in the sky. He is concentrating. He is looking up.
He is diving, with hardly any splash.
The audience claps and leaves.
Mendes and Kunze, their wetsuits dripping, await the next show.
-- Sara Kennedy
No comments:
Post a Comment