Kà takes safety very seriously in the form of technical implementations as well as training. Such areas include power sources, fire precautions, falling, harness equipment, and other such items among many others. As an example, many performers wear earpieces during the show in order to hear cues when they can perform various stunts safely.
Due to the speed in which artists fall from the decks, an array of airbags had to be used in lieu of traditional nets alone. These airbags sit atop two nets, which at times are 70 feet (21 m) below the point the artist begins the fall. The airbags contain individual cells which can inflate and deflate independently. In case a power outage occurs, each airbag has its own uninterruptible power supply which can last up to 30 minutes.
The sandcliff deck has pegs built into it which are used during the Climb scene. Each peg has a sensor which will not allow it to shoot out from the deck if something is blocking its path. These pegs shoot out at a speed of 19 feet per second (5.8 m/s), simulating arrows striking the surface.[13] Likewise, each peg can only retract with less than 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of pressure. Thus if someone were hanging off of it, the peg would stay in place. If something were to go wrong with the deck, a set of backup pegs are in place which can be utilized as a safety ladder to allow performers to exit the deck safely.
As for the aerial rigging system which allows performers to perform tricks in the air while harnessed, it too has safety features. If a harness or wire were to fail, a fail-safe mechanism is in place which would lower the performer to the stage or in the aisles to safely detach from the cabling system.
As the Kà theatre is inside the MGM, it too is integrated into the building’s fire suppression system. During the show, stage managers must contact hotel security and ask that the fire officer override the fire detection equipment in the theatre during the duration of any pyrotechnic and fire stunts
Accidents and incidents
On June 29, 2013, actress Sarah “Sasoun” Guyard-Guillot, an acrobat from Paris, France, died after she fell 94 feet from the show’s stage at the MGM Grand . She was taken to the University of Southern Nevada Medical Center, where she died. This is the first death reported from an accident on stage in Cirque du Soleil’s 30-year history. This is the second time in less than a week that a Cirque performance on the Strip has been halted because of an accident involving one of its artists; a performer during one of Michael Jackson One’s final preview shows at Mandalay Bay suffered a minor concussion after slipping over a loose rope during the show’s “Stranger in Moscow” scene, missing a protective pad. guard underneath the performance and landed hard on the stage. The performer is expected to return to the show. Two artists at Zumanity in New York-New York were seriously injured in a fall on stage in November 2007.
