Oregon agency fines Cirque du Soleil for violations after aerialist’s injury in Portland performance

Published 1:50 pm Thursday, January 16, 2025

Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Cirque du Soleil $8,070 for safety violations after an aerialist was injured in a fall during a performance at the Portland Expo Center last year.

During the Saturday, Aug. 24, performance of “Kooza,” Russian aerialist Mariia Konfektova fell from the aerial hoop in Act I and was injured. Unlike some aerialists, such as tight-rope walkers, hoop artists often “touch down” on stage, which means they cannot work with a net.

On her Instagram account, Konfektova has written that she returned to the company’s base camp in Montreal, Quebec, and has undergone extensive physical therapy following severe injuries.

According to the OSHA report, the fall happened when Konfektova was attempting to transition between movements on the hoop. Although her hands were touching the hoop for stability, she was not gripping it. Her right foot then slipped from the bottom of the hoop and she could not grip it in time to catch herself. She fell and hit the stage floor, which was made of Terrflex, a material that “has some ability to reduce the severity of the impact,” the report reads.

The aerial hoop is similar a sturdy Hula hoop suspended by a wire over the stage.

A Portland Tribune reporter and photojournalist observed Konfektova practice her routine on Wednesday, Aug. 21, and the reporter attended the Thursday, Aug. 22, opening night show. The accident happened two nights later.

On Aug. 21, the Russian performer was working with head coach Cherie Walker of Australia and stage manager Rodrigo Llanes Sologuren of Mexico, fine-tuning her performance.

Walker later told the Tribune that, every time the set is struck and the crew moves equipment to another city, such as Portland, there are almost invisible variables to account for.

“We realized that when the tech team set it up, there’s a difference in the hoop,” Walker said Aug. 21. “By, maybe, a centimeter. We couldn’t see it, but it affected Mariia’s spin. Just a little. It’s often as simple as one centimeter’s difference but…. It matters.”

Walker’s spoke about this process of moving the apparatus, not the accident, which had not yet occurred.

Cirque du Soliel has filed an appeal with OSHA.

KOIN 6 News is a partner of this publication. Find the original story here.