Video surfaces of performer’s fall in Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Love’
Video has surfaced of the incident at “The Beatles Love” on Sunday, as a Cirque du Soleil aerialist fell about 20 feet to the stage during the show’s finale.
Footage published by celeb news website TMZ shows the artist dropping to the stage during the show-closing number, set to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise).” In the video, the performer, whose name is withheld by Cirque officials, vaults three times during the act in the in-the-round theater.
On the third attempt, he falls free after failing to grip the act’s latex tubing. The song continues to play and several artists facing the audience continue to dance, not noticing the accident near the back of the number.
The show was then halted as Cirque’s emergency-response team tended to the performer before EMT’s transferred him to a hospital. Those familiar with the artist’s injuries report he suffered injuries to his arm and back along with internal injuries, and was fortunate he did not suffer more serious damage from a fall of that distance.
Cirque officials say he is expected to recover and return to the show.
Meantime, the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has opened an investigation into the incident. The review needs to be completed within six months. Aside from the halt in Sunday’s performance, “Love” is running as scheduled.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
