Dancer collapses, dies at Seattle Center drum festival

By Leslie Fulbright
Seattle Times staff reporter

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A dancer died yesterday after performing at a drum festival at Seattle Center.

The Seattle Fire Department was called to the World Rhythm Festival at 4:27 p.m. after the woman collapsed near the Center House stage. As the crowd looked on, security guards performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the woman and shocked her with a defibrillator before emergency workers arrived.

"They worked on her for about an hour but were not able to resuscitate her," said Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick. The dancer was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.

"The woman was a dance instructor and had just finished her dance event," said Perry Cooper, a Seattle Center spokesman. "The area where they were helping her was just offstage and visible to the public."

About 250 people were in the crowd, he said. One performance was canceled.

Leslie Fulbright: 206-515-5637

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