Sarah Guyard-Guillot, 31, a French performer and mother of two fell to her death during a Saturday night performance at the MGM Grand, the Las Vegas Sun reports. Guyard-Guillot was being hoisted up in a harness for the final sight scene of Cirque du Soleil's world-famous "Ka" show when she appeared to slip from her safety wire, plummeting at least 50 feet to an open pit at the side of the stage.
She was being hoisted up in a harness on the vertical stage when the incident occurred, the newspaper reports. At first audience members believed the fall was a part of the show until a female started screaming. Immediately after the fall, the show continued on as usual before abruptly stopping and an announcement being made that audience members would be refunded for the show and ushered out.
"Initially, a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the choreographed fight," Dan Mosquede, a spectator told the Las Vegas Sun. "But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage."
According to the newspaper, Guyard-Guillot spent more than 22 years as an acrobatic performer and was a graduate of Annie Fratellini Art and Circus Academy. She was also a coach at Cirqiefit Acrobatics school in Las Vegas where they said she was an aerialist and acrobatic specialist and was hired by "Ka" when the production opened in 2004. MGM Resorts International, Cirque's artistic and business partner in Las Vegas, issued a statement about the accident.
"Our company is deeply saddened by the loss of one of the talented 'Ka' artists Saturday night. The thoughts and prayers of our employees are with the performers family, the cast of 'Ka' and the entire Cirque family during this difficult time."
This is the first reported death from an accident onstage in Cirque du Soleil's 30-year history but the second accident this week at a Cirque show. On Wednesday night, a performer suffered a serious concussion after slipping and falling onto the stage.
* The following video is a preview of the Cirque du Soleil "Ka" performace at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
