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David Belle

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Also known as David Nicolas Williams Belle

French actor

Person · Open Library

Works
1

Top works

  • Parkour

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Group
Origin
United Kingdom
Active from
1996-01
baroque popchamber popdance-popindie folkindie popindie rock

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
129
Total plays
341

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/David+Belle">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · David Belle

Quotes

  • At the physical end, Parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency situation. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, that will help you gain the most ground on someone/something as if escaping from someone/something or chasing toward someone/something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back. If you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A. You don't need to do the same "move," but just get back."
  • It's about what you can do at that particular moment. If someone is stuck in a fire and you say, "Well, two years ago I could have done something that would have saved you" then you are useless. Parkour is not what you could have done for whatever excuse. If you aren't able to help someone, what use are you?
  • My thing from the beginning is to have it be useful, and be able to help others. It's about being efficient and getting there as fast as you can. If people want to do it more artistically or in a freestyle way, I have absolutely no problem with it — that's the way it's going to evolve. It's not my style, but if it's other people's [style], that's perfect.
  • Parkour belongs to the ones who live it, not the ones who want to live thanks to it.
  • Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move.
  • Understand that this art has been created by few soldiers in Vietnam to escape or reach: and this is the spirit I'd like parkour to keep. You have to make the difference between what is useful and what is not in emergency situations. Then you'll know what is parkour and what is not. So if you do acrobatics things on the street with no other goal than showing off, please don't say it's parkour. Acrobatics existed long time ago before parkour.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
David Nicolas Williams Belle , ( 1973-04-29 ) 29 April 1973 (age 53) , Fécamp , France
Occupations
Celebrity , Choreographer , Stunt coordinator
Known for
Parkour , film District 13
Parent s
Raymond Belle (father), Monique Kitten (mother)

via Wikipedia infobox

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

David Nicolas Williams Belle (born 29 April 1973) is a French actor, film choreographer and stunt coordinator. He is deemed the founder and leading pioneer of the physical discipline parkour, coining it based on his training and the teachings from his father Raymond Belle.

Belle came to fame via his parkour videos and film appearances, such as District 13, District 13: Ultimatum, which were written and produced by Luc Besson, and the American remake Brick Mansions. Belle has also consulted on the making of Babylon A.D., Prince of Persia, Colombiana, The Family, and the videogame series Dying Light. He is the chair of the Parkour Committee of the International Federation of Gymnastics.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “David Belle” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.