Cirque du Soleil Star Falls to Death During New Routine in Florida Show
A Cirque du Soleil performer fell to his death during an aerial straps routine at one of the group's weekend shows in Tampa Florida, as the company confirmed on Sunday, March 18. The incident occurred on Saturday night when veteran aerialist Yann Arnaud fell to the stage, as he shortly died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.
Arnaud has been in Cirque shows for 15 years now, and he is considered a veteran star among the company's entertainers, as company president and CEO Daniel Lamarre said in an interview with Reuters.
"We were very surprised, considering his experience, that something like that happened. I cannot describe to you how the people feel. It's terrible," Lamarre said. The Aerial Strap act is considered a relatively safe number for a Cirque show.
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It was a debut number for a show called "VOLTA," though, with Arnaud performing an Aerial Straps Duo act with fellow artist Pawel Walczewski, the first time they will be doing it together before a live audience, as the Daily Mail noted.
"After so much work and training and staging, our straps duo act is finally in the show tonight. It's time to go for it," Arnaud wrote as the caption to an Instagram photo he posted just hours before the incident.
In the middle of a show, Arnaud went for a spin to follow Walczewski own. Halfway through meeting up with his partner, the seasoned aerialist looks to have lost his grip on the strap. The fall seems to have given him no time to prepare for a landing, as he plunged a dozen or more feet on to the round stage.
"Emergency procedures were immediately activated and Yann was transported to the nearest hospital, where he later passed away from his injuries," the company statement continued, as quoted by E! Online.
