Tightrope tradition on verge of extinction in Russia's Dagestan In a remote village of Chakhchakh in the southern Russian region of Dagestan, 13-year-old Muhamed Balikhanov is one of the few to continue a tradition of tightrope walking that dates back centuries. While the art of balancing on a taut rope or wire is often performed in circuses, for locals in the mountainous North Caucasus region, it began as a way to take short cuts between precipitously placed villages.