Cirque du Soleil acrobat falls

The circus cancels the rest of the 5 p.m. performance and the 9 p.m. show after she falls sliding down a rope.

By CURTIS KRUEGER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 7, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- High in the air, seven performers in Cirque du Soleil's Quidam began to slide down a set of seven ropes. But the next move at Friday's show was dramatic and unchoreographed: One of the acrobats fell to the stage.

The performer was taken to the hospital, and the circus canceled the remainder of the 5 p.m. show, as well as the 9 p.m. show, after the accident.

Cast member Natalya Pestova was treated at Bayfront Medical Center immediately after the accident, but she had broken no bones and was released later Friday night, said Cirque du Soleil spokeswoman Karina Leduc.

Ticket-holders for the canceled shows were given vouchers good for a later performance or a refund. Cirque du Soleil's main tent in the Tropicana Field parking lot seats more than 2,600 people.

Officials canceled the shows because "we wanted to take all the necessary measures to assess all the technical aspects of this," Leduc said.

But they expected the shows to go on as scheduled today.

Leduc said the accident was "a technical problem, and I don't know any more than that."

The fall came during a routine called "Corde de Lisse," in which each of the seven performers slide down separate ropes. Leduc said the performers do not use harnesses or clips to secure them to the ropes.

"It wasn't a long distance. To me it was like 6 to 8 feet," said Harold Johnson, describing Pestova's fall. Johnson, 67, is a winter resident of Sebring who went to the show with his wife and two friends.

"They immediately stopped the show. Did a great job of taking care of (her)," Johnson said.

Pestova did not move at all after her fall, but Leduc said that's because the performers are trained not to, to avoid further injury.

Quidam started its run of 10 shows a week on Nov. 7. The Cirque du Soleil staff announced that the show would be canceled, and handed out vouchers to the crowd.

They did the same for people who flocked in for the later show.

Many customers sounded understanding once they learned of the accident and said they hoped no one had been seriously hurt.

"That's all right. There's more than this one show," said Kimberly Fields of St. Petersburg, who had arrived to see Quidam with her husband, Scott, and their children. The kids, Scott, 10, and Courtney, 8, were taking the news well: Plan B was to go to the movies.

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