During the Volta show on Saturday, March 17, 38-year-old French performer Yann Arnuad fell to his death when his hand slipped off the double rings, announced the theatrical company.
"While he was performing the aerial straps number, longtime aerialist Yann Arnaud fell onto the stage," said Cirque du Soleil's Volta in a Twitter post. Arnaud received medical attention and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries early Sunday.
"The entire Cirque du Soleil family is in shock and devastated by this tragedy," the statement said. "Yann had been with us for over 15 years and was loved by all who had the chance to know him."
— Cirque du Soleil (@Cirque) March 18, 2018The day of the show, Arnaud posted to Instagram that he would be performing this new act for the first time. "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," said Arnaud in a Saturday post. "They were doing a dance routine on stage and they had these streamers coming down from the roof," said an audience member to WFTS. "One of the guys lost his grip and fell from the streamer down to the floor. The other performers, everybody just stopped on stage and were just pretty much in shock like we were."
Volta was expected to run from Feb. 14-March 18 in Cirque du Soleil tents at Tampa Greyhound Track, but the remaining shows have been canceled.
Cirque du Soleil said it is investigating the incident, along with the Tampa Police Department.
This isn't the first time a performer with Cirque du Soleil has fallen to their death. In 2013, a dancer died after falling 50 feet during a performance in Las Vegas after slipping out of her safety harness.
