Center of Mass of a Tighrope Walker

For a tightrope walker to complete the act of walking across the rope, their center of mass must be directly over the rope for the majority of the walk. If the center of mass is not over the rope, the rope will begin to oscillate which will cause the walker to fall off of the rope.

Also, if one looks at some pictures of tightrope walking, the walkers use bent balancing poles. The balancing pole acts to lower the center of mass so that it is closer to the rope enabling the balance of the walker to increase