Nik Wallenda — a descendant of the famed Flying Wallenda family — has taken many a daring, vertiginous walk in his day. He stepped across a tightrope above Niagra Falls in 2012. He crossed the Grand Canyon in 2013.

On Friday, he brought his daredevilry here. He strode across a highwire 75 to 80 feet above a grassy expanse at Foxwoods, on a wire strung between the Rainmaker Garage's fifth level and the Tanger Outlets' roof.

Wallenda's feat was all tied to the debut weekend of Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods, which officially opened on Thursday.

Wallenda, holding a balancing pole, walked — carefully, thoughtfully, smoothly — along the wire, taking about 14 minutes to traverse all 711 feet. Dramatic music was piped in to provide the appropriately theatrical soundtrack, and the crowd gathered below occasionally offered a shout of "Go, Nik!" or a chant of "Nik! Nik! Nik!"

Wallenda may be an athlete, but he's an entertainer, too, and he didn't disappoint when it came to adding flourishes. Halfway across, he stopped to do a symbolic ribbon-cutting in honor of the Tanger opening. A red ribbon was held on either side of him by people aloft in cherry pickers, and Wallenda grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped the ribbon before continuing on his way. (Felix Rappaport, president and CEO of Foxwoods, noted that the ribbon cutting was Wallenda's idea.)

About two-thirds of the way through, Wallenda crouched and then lay down on his back on the wire  — eliciting applause, naturally — before rising and continuing on. He finished it all with a quick scamper the last few feet. As he reached the other side, fireworks rocketed upward and streamers fluttered down.

Afterward, Wallenda said that being up on the wire "is where I feel alive. I hope that, by what I do, I inspire people to do greater things — not necessarily to walk on the wire at Foxwoods, but to do greater things, to push themselves beyond what their expectations might be."

As for the walk itself, Wallenda said, "It was beautiful weather, beautiful sky, amazing crowd here joining to watch. Everything went well. There are walks where something happens, and you're like, 'Ah, that didn't feel right!' But for the most part, this was an ideal location."

Even the wind, which he estimated wasn't over 25 or 30 miles an hour, didn't put a hitch in his step.

Of course, the Foxwoods walk can't compare to his exploits above the Grand Canyon and Niagra Falls, but Wallenda pointed out that each highwire event is potentially perilous. He never compares one to another because the dangers are still the same.

"If something were to happen and I were to not be able to grab that wire — which has always been my backup plan, what I've trained for my whole life — then I would most likely lose my life," Wallenda said in an interview earlier this week.

He consequently treats every walk with the proper level of respect.

"The risk is the same, whether I'm 60 feet up or I'm 10,000 feet up. It's really the same thing. The fall might be little longer — that sounds harsh, but it's just the truth," he said.

And if Wallenda had had his way, the tightrope at Foxwoods would have been strung to even higher points on the property. He first visited Foxwoods about a month ago and, he recalled, "I was kind of blown away, to be honest, how big it is — massive. I was excited about doing all these enormous walks from one tower to another and all sorts of stuff, and then they were like, 'It's about the grand opening of the mall, so we have to have the attention over here.' So it's going to be a little different than what I envisioned, but in the end, it's about promoting that venue, the new shopping malls."

But all is not lost: Wallenda is expected to return to Foxwoods later on and do a walk more in line with his original notion.

Wallenda clearly enjoyed his time at Foxwoods. He spoke about how he, his wife and their children had learned about the tribe's history by going to the recently reopened Mashantucket Pequot Museum and had spent three hours Thursday night bowling at High Rollers at Foxwoods. He noted that the clothing he wore for Friday's walk — a white, button-down shirt and jeans — were purchased by his wife at the Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods.

For every foot Wallenda walked along the 711-foot tightrope, Foxwoods is donating $7.11 worth of clothing from the Tanger Outlets to the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut.

Wallenda doesn't consider what he does a job; it's simply his life. His mother walked the wire when she was six months pregnant with him. Wallenda, now 36, recalls touring with his parents when he was a child. They'd often be out 40 to 50 weeks a year, on the road performing.

"When I looked up and saw my parents doing that, I thought it was normal, whereas another child looked up and said, 'Your parents are crazy.' I thought, 'No, but that's what we do,''' Nik said.

Family is still all around. His father was with him at Foxwoods.

Wallenda attracted fans from far and wide on Friday, too. The Simmons family came from Albany for this particular event. Mom Jennifer said, "It was amazing. ... We've seen him do it on TV, so it was neat to see it in person."

Daughter Tara, 12, added, "It was really cool — how he did the tricks up in the air ... how he cut the ribbon."

Wallenda noted that, with the wire just 75 to 80 feet off the ground, it was easier for him to connect with spectators.

"To be able to interact with the crowd is where I get the most of my joy, from entertaining and hopefully inspiring," he said.

k.dorsey@theday.com

Twitter: @KAgDorsey