Sarah Guillot-Guyard, a performer from Circque due Soleil, did in a weekend accident during a show at a Las Vegas casino, authorities said on Sunday. Guillot-Guyard was pronounced dead shortly before midnight on Saturday, the Clark County, Nevada medical examiner's office told CNN. The cause of death had not been determined as of Sunday afternoon.
The accident happened during the show's finale, in which she "was being hoisted up the side of the stage and then just plummeted down," witness Dan Mosqueda told the Las Vegas Sun. "Initially, a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the choreographed fight. But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage."
Guillot-Guyard, born in Paris, had been a veteran performer with over 10 years experience as a profession, and she specialized as an acrobat and aerialist, according to a website for Cirquefit, which describes itself as a circus and fitness program for kids. She taught classes through the program.
Guillot-Guyard, nicknamed "Sassoon," was part of the original cast of "Ka," the long-running Cirque du Soleil show at the MGM Grand hotel and casino, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté said in a statement issued Sunday.
The show has been canceled indefinitely, and the company is "working with the appropriate authorities and have offered our full cooperation," Laliberté said.
