Cirque du Soleil performer falls to ground during performance in Portland in front of audience
A Cirque du Soleil performer was caught on camera suffering a terrifying fall during a live performance in Portland, Oregon, causing shock among the audience.
Footage taken by Benjamin Goldstein, 10, shows the acrobat — identified by KOIN 6 News as Mariia Konfektova — sliding off a hoop while spinning above the stage Saturday at the Portland Expo Center.
“At first I thought it was part of the show, like it was on purpose,” Goldstein told the station. “But then people started acting weird. I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t part of the show. Something’s going on.’”
“It looks like she hit her nose and there was blood coming from her nose, but she lifted her head but remained still,” her father Brian added.
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Mariia Konfektova, a Russian aerial gymnast who holds the Guinness World Record for most hoop rotations in 30 seconds, wrote on Instagram that she is “fine” after falling during the KOOZA show at the Portland Expo Center over the weekend. (Instagram/m_knf)
A spokesperson for the performance, titled KOOZA, told KOIN 6 News that “In accordance with our emergency procedures, we briefly interrupted the show and the artist was immediately assisted by the tour response team and transported to the hospital for evaluation.”
Another audience member, Jason Pehling, said the crowd was cleared from the area before being allowed to return about 15 minutes later, according to KPTV.
But he added that there was tension among the public after the fall.
“It definitely made you more nervous for the other acts that were going on,” he said.
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Artists rehearse on Cirque du Soleil’s “KOOZA” stage in December 2019 in Madrid, Spain. (David Benito/Getty Images)
The show later wrote on Facebook: “We appreciate your concern and well wishes for our aerial hoop artist.
“We want to assure you that the artist is recovering and is being cared for by our medical team and coaching staff. Safety is our utmost concern and they will be taken care of until they are able to return to the show,” he added. “We hope you enjoyed the rest of KOOZA.”
A video of the incident shows Konfektova crashing to the stage after falling from the hoop.
“Everything from the altitude of Portland to the humidity in the heat to the adjustment of all the mechanisms, the apparatus, all of that can be slightly off,” Portland Tribune Editor Dana Haynes told KOIN 6 News. “And everywhere they went, they would rehearse and rehearse and rehearse. The coach in this case, the Australian head coach, told me the hoop mechanism was off by an inch.”
Cirque Du Soleil’s “KOOZA” acrobats perform during a dress rehearsal in January 2020 in Seville, Spain. (María José Lópe/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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“Because of that, they had to adapt. Maria’s rotation, because of that centimeter, although not visible to the coach, affected her rotation,” he added.
