A Chinese acrobat fell to her death while performing a routine with her husband, prompting discussions about safety precautions and an investigation by Chinese authorities.
On Saturday, the 37-year-old woman, surnamed Sun, was performing at a farm in the city of Suzhou, in the eastern province of Anhui. She and her husband, Zhang—who’s been her trapeze partner for years—were seen hoisted up into the air with ropes, soaring above the brightly lit stage.
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But as seen in footage of the show, Sun appeared to have slipped off from her husband just seconds after they were lifted at least 10 meters off the ground. Screams from the crowd were heard as the artist fell and hit the stage.
Reports and videos of her fall have been widely circulated on social media, where users have raised questions about safety of the event as well as high-altitude acrobatics in general.
“Say no to performances that come at the expense of lives,” one commenter said on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Witnesses point out that she wasn’t wearing a safety harness, and some have blamed the show’s operator, Anhui Yaxi Performing Art Media, for not providing a safety net.
After the fatal incident Anhui Yaxi Performing Art Media claimed it had urged Sun to wear a safety harness before the performance, according to Chinese media outlet The Paper. Another outlet reported that the couple had always performed without wearing safety harnesses, citing a former collaborator.
Authorities in Suzhou are investigating the incident to determine who is legally responsible for Sun’s death.
Ensuring safety in aerial acrobatics has never been straightforward. Injuries and deaths in live performances are not unheard of even in the world’s top circus groups.
In 2018, an experienced aerialist who performed for Cirque du Soleil in Florida died after plummeting during an aerial straps routine, in which he did not wear a harness. It was the third fatality involving a performer for the company in its 38-year history.
Martin Burton, founder of Zippos Circus in the UK who himself was injured in a fire-eating act, said circus operators have to walk a fine line between acting and perceived danger because viewers “want to feel that they might see an accident.”
Ayumi Mitanda, a Japanese aerial artist with 13 years of experience, said it’s common for flying trapeze performers not to wear a harness in a performance. A harness can be more dangerous for some acrobats—such as those who perform using silk—as it could impede their movement, Mitanda said.
And even safety equipment can fail, she said.
“I once was performing silk aerial and the silk that was attached to the ceiling of the stage broke,” Mitanda told VICE World News. Thankfully, she said, she fell from a short height and avoided serious injury.
“Aerial is a dangerous sport—the art requires that performers push themselves physically, which at times includes safety,” she said.
In 2013, another Cirque performer died after slipping free of her safety wire. A few years later, an aerial artist in Japan also died from a plunge, after one of the wires attached to his safety harness broke.
Mitanda said there should be a safety net and found it odd that there wasn’t one where Sun, the Chinese acrobat, performed.
In the aftermath of the fatality, the show’s operator, Anhui Yaxi Performing Art Media, said Sun and her husband were fighting just before the fatal performance, according to local news reports. The company did not say what that had to do with safety measures at the show, and the husband has denied that the couple were bickering.
After Sun’s fall, the show was canceled immediately, along with the company’s other performances scheduled for that weekend.
Chinese state media Global Times reported that in 2021, Anhui Yaxi Performing Art Media was fined 50,000 yuan ($7,276) by the local tourism office for holding commercial performances without approval.
In a statement published on Sunday, China’s Acrobatic Association—a government-led acrobatic group in China—said it was “extremely sad and shocked by the tragedy.” It also urged performance companies nationwide to protect acrobats, calling performers’ safety the top priority.
