# Breaking News Cirque Du Soleil Performer Killed in Fall During Show



## Call911 (Jun 30, 2013)

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20713644,00.html

Anyone have more information or more insight?


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## Call911 (Jun 30, 2013)

http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/ka...-suffers-another-accident-artist-falls-ka-mg/

More information.


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## LavaASU (Jun 30, 2013)

Wow. Cirque puts so much time, money, and effort into keeping their cast and crew safe.

Prayers and wishes to her family and the Cirque family.


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## dvsDave (Jun 30, 2013)

Quick note from the CB Senior Team: We will not allow any discussion or speculation on the cause of the accident. Cirque has an unparallelled reputation in this industry for safety and we will wait for their report. CB mourns with the entire Cirque family.


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## LavaASU (Jun 30, 2013)

Another article:

Cirque Du Soleil Death During Ka Show at MGM in Las Vegas


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## jhochb (Jun 30, 2013)

I hope I’m not out of line here
all do respects to the family and crew, Cirque Du Soleil is a Family and care deeply about each other.
We are a relatively small industry and we need to lookout for each other too.
I think this may be a good time to let the members here to know about
BEHIND THE SCENES
if not known already.

ESTA Foundation - Behind the Scenes - About Behind the Scenes, News, Apply for a Grant, Make a Contribution

From their web site
Behind the Scenes provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals when they are ill or injured or to their surviving family members. Funds can be used for medical care, basic living costs and funeral expenses. Behind the Scenes brings help and hope in times of great need.</SPAN>


To all who will continue in our family 
Keep BTS in mind


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## MPowers (Jun 30, 2013)

Shock...........That's my only reaction. It had to happen sometime with the boundaries they pushed, but I never thought I'd live to see it happen. A sobering reminder to all, that what we do, as performers, technicians, and riggers, it is not a game, it is a very dangerous line of work with potentially fatal outcomes. Short-cuts, quicker, cheaper, are never the answer in our branch of the business. My deepest sympathies and condolences to her children and family.


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## MPowers (Jul 1, 2013)

Sharing this incredibly well-written post from Erica Lintz 
Sarah Guyard Guillot, our hearts go out to all her students, family and friends.

"Too many times, I hear people refer to performers as fearless. I've taken to gently correcting them by saying, "We're not fearless, we're brave." We understand the risks, we know that under the big top potential disaster lurks behind each corner. We know that winning your astonishment and awe requires a death defying balance of beauty and danger, and we accept it with open eyes and aching joints. We do this with great love and joy for the privilege of entertaining our audience and being a part of their lives. We are not fearless... We are brave...and I will miss my brave friend Sasoun very, very much. I will be forever grateful to have shared so many laughs, moments of sisterhood, and to have overcome so many fears together. All my love to the family and the sisters of dressing room D. Peace to you my dearest Sarah ......


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## gafftaper (Jul 1, 2013)

This one is personal to the CB staff for reasons which must remain private. I have had a great deal of unique access to Ka over the last few years. I've seen the show performed from the booth and from the stage. I've had the privilege of standing on deck during a show and watching the scene in which this tragedy occurred performed straight up more than 50' above my head. I've toured the grid, seen the rigging gear, and fist bumped performers as they entered and exited the stage during the show. Last year at LDI, dvsDave and I had the privilege of talking late into the night with the Ka T.D. Much of that conversation was about the amazing focus on safety that exists at Ka, how you develop it, how you maintain it. Ka's staff and the efforts they take to ensure safety, ranks up there with the best in the world and it is the last place that I would have ever dreamed this could happen. 

Ka is a tight family. I consider myself lucky to consider a couple of people who work at Ka friends. I can't imagine the pain the artists and crew are going through right now. Then most tragic of all, there are the two young children without a mom. If you have kids hug them and tell them you love them. If you are a religious person pray for Sarah's family and the Ka family. No mater who you are remember them tomorrow and try to make the world a little better place. 

JhochB is right, making a donation to Behind the Scenes would be one way for those of us at a distance to create some good in the world to counteract this tragedy.

As Dave said, we will be keeping a close eye on this thread and will be swift to delete anything insensitive.


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## techieman33 (Jul 1, 2013)

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, cast, and crew of KA. I hope that we can all learn from this tragic incident so at least a small sliver of good can come out of it. Hopefully it will make people stop and think about trying to do something similar without proper professional support from people that really know how to do this safely. If it can happen on that show it can happen to anyone. Be safe.


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## LavaASU (Jul 1, 2013)

“At this point in time, I can’t confirm exactly what happened. But I can confirm that she did not slip out of her harness,” said Cirque spokesperson Renee-Claude Menard of the accident that claimed the life of veteran aerialist Sarah “Sassoon” Guyard-Guillot.

Full article:
Cirque du Soleil Artist Dies After Fall in Vegas | Variety

I too hope that we can all learn from this so that her death wasn't entirely meaningless. I will also say I was shocked to hear about this. If there is one common theme I have heard from various Cirque du Soleil professionals it is a dedication to safety. Regardless of what the cause turns out to be, I would consider this a freak accident.


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## gafftaper (Jul 3, 2013)

A memorial website for Sarah "Sasoun" Guyard-Guillot has been setup at http://forsasoun.com. She left behind two sweet young children. If you would like to help those children you can do so by making a donation in one of two ways. Send money via PayPal to the account [email protected] or you can make out a check to “The Guyard Family” and mail it directly to them at: 8256 Avens Place, Las Vegas, NV 89117. I realize the website is pretty basic and this way of sending money seems a little sketchy. This information came directly to me from a trusted CB member and friend, who is far too close to the situation. If you trust anything I've said here on CB, trust me now that your donations will go directly to Sarah's family.

And a special message for the media if any of you happen find this... LEAVE THE FAMILY OF KA ALONE! STOP HARASSING THESE GRIEVING PEOPLE! Working in the arts is not just like any other job, you become family. When you have to truly trust your life to those family members (two shows a day) that bond becomes even stronger. When something goes horribly wrong, the family is going to unite together and support each other like a family does. They will not talk to you and they have nothing to say to the world. When the investigation is done, we will find out what actually happened. In the meantime, remember you are harassing some of the top professional acrobats and technicians in the world. None of them is interested in mindlessly speculating just so you can fill air time and newspaper columns so show a little human decency and LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!


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## LavaASU (Jul 3, 2013)

Well said Gafftaper. I would add another special message for the media. Please BE RESPECTFUL. STOP finding people to mindlessly speculate on what might have happened. Those that know or have a good idea won't talk to you. And DO NOT say that Cirque lacks contingency plans. They are well respected in the industry for their safety efforts and contingency planning. This was a tragic accident. If you want to talk about something talk about how great Sarah was or encourage people to donate to the family.


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## Ekanto (Jul 4, 2013)

This post is simply from a mother of two who wanted to express how heartbroken I am for the two children left without their mom.
I know many children around the world are orphans, but this has affected me more so. Perhaps it was because of the beautiful memorial site with pictures of a genuine and loving young woman so full of life gracing the screen. Or maybe it's the fact that I have always admired and dreamed of seeing the Cirque in person one day. I am praying for her family both at home and at the Cirque.


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## mstaylor (Jul 5, 2013)

I was reading the comments below one of the news stories and felt compelled to respond to a comment saying Cirque doesn't care about it's performers or safety. I posted that Cirque is a leader in the safety of it's performers and techs. I wish people that have no clue on a subject would just not comment.


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## gafftaper (Jul 5, 2013)

mstaylor said:


> I wish people that have no clue on a subject would just not comment.



I agree completely Michael. In fact the situation is the exact opposite. Cirque brings in artists with the most spectacular abilities in the world and surrounds them with the best technicians, equipment and training facilities. The physical therapy and training center backstage at Ka is at least the equal to what you would find in the NFL. There are trainers, doctors, coaches, whirlpools, and everything you could ever need for physical therapy. 

I did a backstage tour with the Stage Manager on a traveling Cirque show once. Although the facilities were not as luxurious as Ka, the artists still had everything they need. At the time one artist in the show had a minor injury. The SM told me about how they were always adjusting the show's line up and running order. In order to give injured artists a rest or to just give someone a night off. 

As mentioned above, at LDI 2012, dvsDave and I had a lengthy conversation with the Ka TD about the Ka commitment to safety. He told us about the extensive efforts they have gone through to make sure if an accident happens, the best care is immediately available. He told us about a rare injury that can happen with electrical shocks. The Ka staff had actually gone to the hospital and trained the hospital staff to look for this particular, normally undetectable injury. 

Cirque definitely values everyone on their staff and again treats everyone as part of a huge family. The efforts Cirque puts into keeping their artists safe are remarkable.


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## gafftaper (Jul 5, 2013)

From a friend 

> Know that we truly appreciate the condolences of the community. We have had an outpouring of thoughts coming from all over the world. We are thankful for our Congresswoman Dina Titus and the US State Department in working so hard to expedite the travel of Sasoun's family from France.


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## gafftaper (Jul 7, 2013)

This is a pretty fair and well written article about Ka. Most importantly I think, it talks about how OSHA did a full inspection of Ka and unlike most other shows, they found no safety violations at all. 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## What Rigger? (Jul 15, 2013)

With regards to the media sniffing around: I have it from a contact that many people who rig, and/or work for Cirque in Vegas, were being contacted across many platforms (phone, email, Facebook, Twitter even!) by news outlets looking for anybody willing to go on record with "expert" statements (whatever the h*ll and "expert" is) about what did or could have happened. 

It fills my black heart with glee to know that any/all reputable sources in LV told said media outlets to pound sand. Almost every article I've read so far has had one commonality: a steep degree of b*ll$#!t information from people who don't know jack.

I won't even speculate to myself, let alone others, what went wrong. And I have been asked already, more than once.


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## LavaASU (Jul 16, 2013)

From the Cirque Facebook page:


> Cirque du Soleil’s KÀ Performances Resume
> 
> Montreal (July 14, 2013) – Cirque du Soleil announces that performances of KÀ, presented at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will resume on Tuesday, July 16th at 7:00 p.m.
> 
> ...



https://www.facebook.com/KA


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## gafftaper (Jul 20, 2013)

Well they are back in business. Here's a nice review of the current situation from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.


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## cmckeeman (Oct 29, 2013)

well OSHA has made some decisions http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...osed-in-cirque-du-soleil-acrobats-vegas-death


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## gafftaper (Oct 29, 2013)

Here's the story from the Las Vegas Sun.


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## Footer (Oct 30, 2013)

Pretty amazing. Your telling me there was not a limit in place to keep a performer from smacking into the grid? Really? And there was not sheave in place to keep the rope from jumping the sheave?


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## LavaASU (Oct 30, 2013)

I could see the lack of a limit. The performer is in control of their own movement, so that should be a non-issue. From what I gathered from the articles, she hit the grid at a high speed which made the cable jump the sheave which meant it hit a sharp edge and was torn apart. In that case I'd question what made her hit the grid (medical emergency, failure in the controller, and why an e-stop wasn't initiated when she went off the choreography). That said, that doesn't really line up with any of the earlier reports. If she fell while near the top of the wall, clearly she was not at the grid.

Hopefully OSHA and/or Cirque will publish the full report so that the industry can learn from this and hopefully prevent future tragedies.

Personal unsubstantiated opinion, OSHA was trying darn hard to find something. Doubt there is ever a death without fines. She had been performing for years, obviously the accident was not caused by her lack of training in the system.


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## gafftaper (Oct 30, 2013)

Now we are speculating and as you can see it's getting us nowhere. 

Details, as explained by reporters who don't know the difference between a sheave and a turnbuckle, may not be accurate to our standards of understanding. 

It is standard procedure for OSHA to have a one year wait in order to allow appeals to go through and be resolved. A full final report will be written, then the report will be freely available to the public. So we will definitely have all the details available to us next year for sure.


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