An acrobat took a very nasty tumble during a New Year's Eve bash in New Orleans ... and only TMZ has video of the dancer falling several feet into a huge mass of revelers.
Check out this scary footage from the NYE show at the Fillmore New Orleans ... you see an aerialist performing acrobatics as she's suspended from the ceiling above the crowd, and then all of a sudden she starts hurtling down towards the floor.
The acrobat was performing while New Orleans-based rock band The Revivalists were on stage covering David Bowie's "Let's Dance" ... and witnesses say the aerialist was lying in the fetal position after her crash landing, with her globe-shaped metal cage nearby.
The dancer and another man were injured in the crash and transported to a hospital, but the band's vocalist, David Shaw, tells TMZ their injuries are not severe and they've been released from the hospital.
Shaw also tells us the area under the acrobat was roped off and a mat was placed beneath her during the performance, and the safety precautions ended up breaking her fall. Shaw blames the incident on an equipment malfunction and says the band was shocked and saddened by the fall.