OSHA to investigate Cirque du Soleil after performer fall

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Oregon OSHA has officially opened an investigation with Cirque du Soleil after an aerialist was injured in a fall during a performance Saturday night.

The incident happened at Kooza, one of the traveling shows of Cirque du Soleil which began its residency in Portland on Aug. 21.

People who attended the performance reported that Russian aerialist Mariia Konfektova fell from the aerial hoop in the first act and was injured. The apparatus was like a sturdy hula hoop suspended by a wire over the stage.

A spokesperson with Kooza said that, as of Sunday afternoon, the performer was “conscious, stable and being cared for by medical specialists and [their] team.”

Konfektova, like other Cirque du Soleil performers, works without a net.

“She did not use a netting because she started on the ground and rose and spiraled and came back down and landed on the ground and danced and went back up again,” said Portland Tribune editor Dana Haynes, who profiled the troupe in the days before the show opened in Portland.

She fell onto the stage floor face down, said audience member Brian Goldstein. “It appeared she hit her nose and there was blood from her nose, but she lifted her head up but she stayed still.”

Haynes said there is a medical team that travels with the troupe. “They are highly trained and they know that this can happen,” he said.

Several people in the Saturday audience went on Reddit over the weekend to describe her fall, with several concerned about her condition.

On Instagram, the person with Konfektova’s account replied to another concerned fan, “thank you luckily I’m okay.”

Cirque du Soleil has not issued a statement on the cause of Konfektova’s fall.

According to an OSHA spokesperson, they have 180 days to fully complete the investigation, at which point, the results will become public.

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