Acrobat falls to death in Cirque show

A Cirque du Soleil performer has died in Las Vegas after falling some 15 metres during a performance of the stage show Ka.
[This is archived content and may not display in the originally intended format.]

A Cirque du Soleil performer has died in Las Vegas after falling some 15 metres during a performance of the stage show Ka.

Frenchwoman Sarah Guyard-Guillot, 31, the mother of two young children aged 8 and 5 years old, was pronounced dead shortly before midnight Saturday, local time, after plummeting from the vertical stage during the production’s climax.

Hers is the first reported death from an accident onstage in the French Canadian company’s 30-year history.

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts