Kristian Craige and Rita Gray on Stilts: Photo by Jacque Manaugh
“Now it’s time for some fun!”
So says King Birtram in Dr. Seuss’ little-known 1939 book, “The King’s Stilts.” Every day at five in the afternoon, after tending to the business of the Kingdom of Binn, the benevolent king climbs upon his shiny red stilts and happily races through the marble halls of his castle, blowing off a little royal steam. In this rare, non-rhyming work, Dr. Seuss preaches the importance of working hard and playing hard.
You’ll find the same passion for balance (both literal and figurative) in Lakewood Heights neighbor Rita Joye Gray. She’s been a stiltwalker for years and loves it. “The instant I put them on, I feel 8 years old again,” she says. “For a woman who is 58 years young, that is a really cool feeling. I wish everyone could feel like that.”
Gray’s bird’s-eye journey began 12 years ago at Cedar Valley College, where she was a music student. Sitting in on a planning session for the school’s original production of “Clowntasia,” the director announced he needed someone to play a giant butterfly. “Before I even realized it,” Gray says with a laugh, “my right arm immediately shot up in the air. I mean, after all, who doesn’t want to be a giant butterfly?”
She received no instruction with the required stilts, but instead gave herself a crash course in stiltwalking. Gray went with drywall stilts, which allow for easy movement as well as standing still and are adjustable from two to four feet. Generally, Gray says, she is about eight feet tall with stilts. She discovered that a four-foot ladder can be terribly handy for climbing onto and removing the stilts. She had tinkered with them as a kid, building a pair out of 2-by-4s, but had no other experience. However, she exhibited grace under pressure. “I learned quickly since I was expected to perform on stage every night,” she explains.
Gray soon found her stiltwalking services in demand at parties, festivals and parades, work she readily performed for free, just for the love of it. Then she met other stiltwalkers who plugged her into their world of performance art, and she began getting paid gigs. She has walked (and danced) in parades for the State Fair of Texas, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Gay Pride, Tyler Rose Festival and, just a few weeks ago, the Lakewood Heights Neighborhood Centennial. She was a full-time Dream Bird at Summer Adventures at Fair Park last summer and has entertained crowds at grand openings, weddings and special events.
Four years ago, her life partner, Kristian Craige, joined the fun.
He ordered a pair of stilts online, picked up a few pointers from Gray, and practiced in their driveway and backyard until he felt confident. “I was so happy to finally have a dance partner my size,” Gray says. She swears that dancing is not only possible on stilts, but that it’s also her “favorite thing to do.” She insists that once you’re accustomed to the feeling of stilts, they feel like your own legs. Line dancing, she adds, is especially fun with a group.
Fun it may be, but stiltwalking is not without its perils and occasional mishaps. Out of hundreds of walks, Gray has fallen three times. The first time she was unscathed, but the other two tumbles resulted in fractured elbows. While she finds dancing a piece of cake, running can be a challenge, stairs are difficult to navigate, and she has found it’s best to avoid stepping in water.
Costumes, too, can pose problems. Whether Gray and Craige are outfitted as toy soldiers, Santa and Mrs. Claus, or a cowboy and cowgirl, costumes must be maneuverable and the pants just the right length, covering the stilts but not so long as to step on them. Gray recalls a gig at the Hotel Zaza where she portrayed a tall Glenda the Good Witch at Halloween. The costume, made out of 500 yards of fabric, required her to climb up a ladder and up into the skirt. “It was very impressive, yet very difficult to manage.”
Gray remembers another time when her safety was compromised. She was in Galveston, stiltwalking on the seawall while there were thousands of motorcyclists in town for the Lone Star Rally. She was a bit taken aback when some asked to ride their bikes through her long legs. “In the interest of my safety, I declined,” she says with a chuckle.
Aside from stiltwalking, Gray and Craige lead busy lives. Gray is a dog-walker/pet-sitter, and Craige is a full-time caregiver of his elderly mom, Loyce Craige. Together the couple created the nonprofit Mystic Media Foundation, which teaches kids how to use digital media. They also get gigs playing guitar and singing. They work hard and play hard. King Birtram would be proud.
