Sarah Guyard-Guillot, 31, was performing at the MGM Grand hotel.
Investigators said the mother of two fell 28m (94ft) to the floor when a safety wire became detached due to her rapid ascent.
They said Guyard-Guillot's death was partly caused by a failure to give her adequate training.
Cirque du Soleil said her death was the first fatality during a live performance in its 29-year history.
The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Cirque du Soleil Nevada on six counts.
These included inadequate equipment training for Guillot-Guyard, and a circus-fall protection programme that did not match state safety standards.
The Nevada OSHA proposed more than $25,000 (Â£15,600) in penalties for the company.
It also proposed a fine of $7,000 against the MGM Grand hotel for exposing its employees to workplace hazards, including onstage open-sided floors and pyrotechnic dust used for Cirque du Soleil performances.
The accident happened during the final scene of the Canadian company's show, Ka, a mixture of acrobatics, martial arts and puppetry.
Teri Williams, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, said the report found that Guyard-Guillot had ascended too quickly, which caused the rope to detach from the sheave/pulley.
"The rope was severed when it encountered a shear point," she said. "The investigation concluded that she ascended too quickly, in part, because she did not receive proper training.''
Both Cirque du Soleil and the MGM Grand say they will appeal against the OSHA ruling.
"Cirque du Soleil completed an exhaustive review of its safety policies and procedures in the wake of the tragic accident involving Sarah,'' said Cirque du Soleil spokeswoman Renee-Claude Menard.
"We have redoubled our efforts to ensure the overall diligence and safety of our performers and crew."

The Shadow Man, and a Christmas poem called Noel, were found at Our Lady's School, Abingdon.
It is thought Tolkien got to know the school while he was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University.
The poems were printed a year before Tolkien's first literary sensation The Hobbit was published.
The Shadow Man is an earlier version of a poem eventually published in 1962 in Tolkien's Adventures of Tom Bombadil collection.
The existence of the poems came to light after American Tolkien scholar Wayne G. Hammond got in touch with the school.
He knew from notes made by Tolkien that two of his poems appeared in a magazine he called The Abingdon Chronicle.
This was actually the 1936 annual of Our Lady's School, which was then run by the Sisters of Mercy.
School principal Stephen Oliver said: "At first we couldn't find the 1936 edition and referred Mr Hammond to the archives of the Sisters of Mercy in London.
"Then, while preparing for an event for former pupils of the school, we uncovered our own copy and I saw the two poems Mr Hammond had been looking for. "
The school hopes to put the annual on display at a future exhibition.

The director of Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice threw the switch around 21:30 BST after rapper Professor Green played to the crowds.
The free event took place on the promenade at The Headlands Arena in front of the Tower.
Burton, 58, used Blackpool for scenes in his latest film. "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children."
"To be given the town's highest honour is incredible and I'm really excited. I'm sure it will be a wonderful show," he said.
The California-born film director achieved fame directing blockbusters including Corpse Bride, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland.
Describing himself as Blackpool Pleasure Beach's "biggest fan", Burton chose to shoot scenes in Blackpool for The Killers'  music videos Here with Me and Battle Born.
The Illuminations end on 15 November.
Cirque du Soleil will be fined after an acrobat died during one of its live shows in Las Vegas in June, Nevada state officials say.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Two poems by author JRR Tolkien have been discovered in a 1936 copy of a school annual.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Hollywood director Tim Burton has switched on this year's Blackpool Illuminations.