By Umer Nangiana


He doesn’t have an equal. He has publicly proven it on the world stage. For the past 27 years he has been moving the world around him yet he himself remains static. Very static.
The beauty of life, they say, is in motion. This man has seen more of the world by standing completely still at one point. Across the globe, people know him as the Static Man.
He was here in Doha last week. He “stood” in Souq Waqif and the entire city came to see him. Yes, the “bronze statue” in a corner in Souq Waqif alley during the first week of the spring festival was none other than the renowned Antonio Santos, a.k.a. Static Man from Portugal, the world record holder in “motionlessness”. The master performer of living statues drew hundreds around him every day, who would simply stand and stare, agog, for minutes — for, only Santos can stand for hours at one point.
Why do people not ignore and just pass him by? After all, he is just a static structure ‘placed’ in the side of a street. What pulls them towards him? With these and other questions in mind, Community decided to speak directly to the ‘statue’.
“Here, I have put two concepts together; a living statue and the illusion of levitation,” the Static Man explains. I had to chase him to the restroom after his first performance for the day to speak. But he was now only Santos — out of his statue’s bronze jacket and hat, sitting comfortably before me.
When I first saw him in the alley, instantly, I felt like going up close. I discovered the ‘statue’ was placed on a short elevated platform, supported by a stick with his heels suspended in the air. This posture was peculiar. He then made slow movements, maintaining the same posture, smiled for the cameras but this movement was unbelievably slow.
It was his idea of a “living statue” and “levitation”. It is what actually grabs the eyeballs and passersby find themselves gravitating towards him.
“I call it a mix statue. Here, I did not essay any special character from history or classics. It was only a statue in bronze,” says Santos. His constantly blinking ‘fake’ blue eyes, masterfully painted on his upper eye-lids are a distraction. They are part of his make-up for the statue.
“Normally, I do my own make-up. The body paint is done in a professional way, like they do in theatre and cinema. The trousers and the jacket are made with acrylic mixed with latex,” Santos tells me. However, he has an assistant to help him on the technical side of the statue.
The master performer started doing “living statues” in 1988 when he made history, recorded in Guinness Book of World Records, by standing in one position for 15 hours 2 minutes 55 seconds. “That put me on the world map,” he says, with the excitement of a teenager.
Santos has so far performed in 54 countries, including Qatar. He vows to continue his motionless journey with a smile.
In 1997, Santos claims, he made another world record for being motionless by standing still for 20 hours, 11 minutes and 36 seconds. In 2000, he made another record in “Less Speed Walking” with 150 metres in eight hours.
Before his world record in motionlessness for the first time, he underwent training for three months. In this position, he was allowed only to move his diaphragm and occasionally blink his eyes.
“I had to train with a special diet plan and physical exercises besides special training in breathing. It was necessary to master breathing and it comes only through practice,” Santos recalls.
As one of his kind performers, he began doing ‘statues’ when very few people in the world were into this genre of street theatre at the international level. Santos got his inspiration for living statues from the street performers playing robots in some parts of Europe.
“I saw that people liked that kind of performance and it was something new,” he recalls, and adds, “I also came up with the unique idea of putting battery-operated illuminations in the robotic movements to make them look like living statues. In order to gain control over my posturing and movements, I practiced yoga as well.”
Santos normally performs living statues portraying characters from history and classics that involve absolute motionlessness. But for the illusions of levitation — like the one he performed in Doha — complete motionlessness was not necessary.
“Because here I moved a little for the kids and offered compliments to the people, who addressed me and I interacted with the audience,” Santos explains.
However, he hastens to add, that it was more complicated and difficult to perform. “It is difficult to keep balance in such movements because I am not tied. I am just in my jacket, balancing,” he says.
The margin of error is close to none.
“I must keep my balance for if I move even six or seven centimetres on any of the sides, I go falling on the floor,” the Static Man adds with a smile.
Standing still for hours at a time provides him opportunity to meet different people and see multiple cultures.
“It is beautiful to know different peoples and cultures. I love it,” he says, with his fake eyes wide open, absorbing all the joy of the moment.
He has been performing in his street back home in Lisbon, Portugal for 25 years. “And my audience has grown bigger and bigger, it is just an incredible feeling.” Before coming to Doha, he was a little worried about how the people would react as it was a completely different culture.
But after coming here, he was impressed with the people’s reaction. “It was really good. It was very much like Lisbon,” he says. Santos says he enjoyed the most performing in villages of India when he went there for a project.
He has done advance courses in mathematics, geographic engineering and geology. He has also done professional workshops on ‘Expression and Movement’ with John Mowatt besides many other professional degrees.
Santos’s prowess has taken him to Spain, France, Holland, Greece, Germany, United Kingdom and Italy. His first performance in his home country was at Porto, Batalha Square in Lisbon. He has also done animations in big shops besides participating in different television programmes.
Other than showcasing his talent at international conferences and festivals, Santos has performed in many schools and libraries as well. Some of his memorable performances include concerts of Xutos e Pontapés, Idéfix e Statement, festivals of Edinburg, Aurillac et Avignon, performances at ‘Blue Man, Poseidon, and Expo worker in EXPO 98 and in the Parque das Nações to name a few.
He also organises meetings of “living statue” and has been invited as guest speaker to many of them. Santos has written books on living statues and teaches the technique to aspiring performers. He is also a creator of Ken Yoga.
Besides getting a citation of Guinness Book of Records, Santos has won Honour of the Câmara Municipal de Alcobaça, Prémio em Foco of Rádio Cister, crystal cup of the Junta de Freguesia de Pataias, first prize of the first national living statues meeting, Espinho and Medal of the city of Vila Franca de Xira.

ICON: Santos holding his compatriots in Portugal spellbound.