Cirque du Soleil performer falls to ground during Portland performance in front of audience

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Cirque du Soleil performer falls during Portland show

Witness describes tension at Portland Expo Center following incident during KOOZA performance. (Credit: KPTV)

A Cirque du Soleil performer has been captured on video suffering a terrifying fall during a live performance in Portland, Oregon, drawing gasps from the audience. 

Footage taken by 10-year-old Benjamin Goldstein shows the aerialist – identified by KOIN 6 News as Mariia Konfektova – slipping from a hoop while twirling above the stage Saturday at the Portland Expo Center. 

"At first, I thought it was part of the show, like, it looked like it was purposefully," Goldstein told the station. "But then we’re, like, people were acting weird. I was like, oh, this isn’t part of the show. Something’s up." 

"It appeared she hit her nose and there was blood from her nose, but she lifted her head up but she stayed still," added his father Brian. 

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Mariia Konfektova, a Russian aerialist who holds a Guinness World Record for the most hoop rotations in 30 seconds, wrote on Instagram that she is "okay" following the fall during the KOOZA show at the Portland Expo Center over the weekend. (Instagram/m_knf)

A spokesperson for the performance, titled KOOZA, told KOIN 6 News that "In accordance with our emergency procedures, we stopped the show briefly and the artist was immediately assisted by the tour intervention team and transported to the hospital for examination." 

Another audience member, Jason Pehling, said the crowd was ushered out of the area before being allowed to return about 15 minutes later, according to KPTV. 

But he added that there was a tension among the audience following the fall. 

"It definitely made you more nervous for the other acts that were happening," he said. 

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Artists rehearse on the Cirque du Soleil's 'KOOZA’ stage in  December 2019 in Madrid, Spain.  (David Benito/Getty Images)

The show later wrote on Facebook that "we appreciate your concern and well wishes for our aerial hoop artist.  

"We would like to assure you that the artist is recovering and being cared for by our medical and coaching team. Safety is of our utmost concern, and they will be cared for until they can return to the show," it added. "We do hope you enjoyed the rest of KOOZA." 

Video of the incident showed Konfektova slamming onto the stage after falling from the hoop. 

"Everything from the altitude of Portland to the humidity in the heat to the setting of all of the mechanisms, the apparatus, all of that can be off slightly," Portland Tribune editor Dana Haynes told KOIN 6 News. "And each place they go, they were rehearsing, rehearse and rehearse. The coach in this case, the Australian head coach, told me that the hoop mechanism was off by a centimeter.  

Acrobats of 'KOOZA' by Cirque Du Soleil perform during a dress rehearsal in January 2020 in Seville, Spain.  (María José Lópe/Europa Press via Getty Images)

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"Because of that, they were adjusting. Maria’s twirling, because of that centimeter, while not visible to the coach, affected her spin," he added.