A Cirque du Soleil performer was caught on video taking a terrifying fall during a live show in Portland, Oregon, leaving stunned audience members in shock.
The footage, taken by 10-year-old Benjamin Goldstein, shows a trapeze artist, identified by KOIN 6 News as Maria Konfectova, spinning and sliding through a hoop on stage at the Portland Expo Center on Saturday.
“At first I thought it was part of the show because it seemed like they were doing it on purpose,” Goldstein told the network, “Then I noticed people were acting strangely and I thought, 'Oh, this isn't part of the show. Something is going on.'”
“He appeared to have hit his nose and was bleeding but kept his head up and still,” his father Brian added.
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Russian trapeze artist Maria Konfectova, who holds the Guinness World Record for most hoop rotations in 30 seconds, took a tumble during a KOOZA show at the Portland Expo Center over the weekend but posted on Instagram that she's “Fine.” (Instagram/m_knf)
A spokesperson for the show, who identified himself as KOOZA, told KOIN 6 News, “Following emergency procedures, the show was temporarily paused and the artist was immediately assisted by our tour intervention team and transported to the hospital for evaluation.”
Another spectator, Jason Pelling, said the crowd was cleared from the area but allowed back in about 15 minutes later. According to KPTV.
But he added that tensions arose among the crowd after the fall.
“It definitely made me more nervous compared to other shows,” he said.
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Artists rehearse on the Cirque du Soleil “KOOZA” stage in Madrid, Spain, in December 2019. (David Benito/Getty Images)
The show later posted on Facebook, “We appreciate everyone's concern and support for our aerial hoop artists.”
“We are happy to announce that our artist is recovering and is receiving care from our medical and coaching teams. Safety is our number one concern and care will continue until he is able to return to shows,” he added. “We hope you enjoy the rest of KOOZA's performances.”
Video of the incident shows Konfectova falling off the hoop and crashing into the stage.
“Everything from Portland's altitude to the humidity in the heat to the settings of all the mechanisms and equipment can be slightly off,” said Dana Haynes, editor of the Portland Tribune. He told KOIN 6 News. “And they were rehearsing, rehearsing and rehearsing everywhere they went. The coach this time, the head coach in Australia, told me the hoop mechanism was off by a centimetre.
Acrobats from Cirque du Soleil's “KOOZA” perform during rehearsal in Seville, Spain in January 2020. (Maria José Lope/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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“So they were adjusting. Maria's rotation was affected by that centimetre, even though the coach couldn't see it,” he added.
