A year ago, Jaan Roose (21) from backwoods Põlva County, was forced into academic leave from Physical Culture studies. The reason? A week in New York turned into two, then three... Then a year.
Estonian lad teaches Madonna tightroping and Russian
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It all started by an international phone calls to Mr Roose’s phone, last February. Which he couldn’t answer, being at a training session.
However, he also found an SMS: «Madonna seeks slackliner for her tour. Wants to see you. Worksop in New York, next week.»
Two days later, Mr Roose landed in NY.
Practising on his own, Mr Roose has turned into a world leading slackliner. Meaning a doer of tricks on a 5 cm (2 inches) wide elastic rope tightened between posts. Or trees. In 2010, he came 2nd at global King of Slackline. The year after, he was King. His best tricks, up to be admired on Youtube, caught the eye of Madonna’s tour operators.
«In New York I started by showing them what I could do,» reminisces Mr Roose. «Half a month thereafter, we started rehearsing for the stage. Doing six days a week, ten to sometimes 16 hours a day. That was intense; I had trouble going to sleep after wards.»
It took Mr Roose three months in NY, preparing the slackline and dance acts. During that time, it was not only tightroping he had to teach Madonna. He also served to increase her Russian vocabulary – which, as it happened, only consisted of a couple of curse words.
The tour advertising Madonna’s MDNA album took Mr Roose into 30 countries, with 88 concerts altogether. Initially, Mr Roose performed the rope alone. Just in case – should he fall ill or be injured – a replacement was «standing by», a Brazilian named Carlos Neto.
However, Mr Neto did spend two months with nothing to do than sit by and watch the show. Madonna, finally fed up with that – a guy doing nothing – demanded that he also be included, says Mr Roose.
Thereby creating a new thing in the world of slackline: Mr Roose and Mr Neto having to do synchronized tricks. «The tricks take concentration as they come. Keeping the balance,» explains Mr Roose.
«It’s all up to the force you use jumping on the rope, and your body weight. But now, the tricks had to be done at precisely the same time, and into music.»
It is only three years ago that Mr Roose discovered slackline – just happening upon a video. Up to that time, he had been into tricking on stairs, walls and elsewhere downtown – the so called parkour. Slackline, however, felt more fun at first sight – no matter the painful falls and bumps at the beginning. And blood on the lips, falling headlong unto the rope.
Anyway, as evidenced by the Mr Roose Story, one can make it to the world arena – even from periphery of peripheries like Matsuri village, Värska rural municipality. Provided one has willpower, guts and endurance – and loads of luck, of course.
Well, the Madonna tour, which ended in December, was an inspiration injection of a calibre that propelled Mr Roose full-time into his favourite pastime.
Which, as Mr Roose readily admits, means looking over the border. As, in Estonia, all he gets for a performance is enough to cover gasoline money, with a little tip left over. «It’s easier abroad, at least you can go work in a circus,» he says.
Studies of Physical Culture? Well… that will have to wait.