The Finnish winter is notoriously dark and bleak, especially on those years when there’s no snow on the ground. Thankfully, there are annual circus events that bring joy and magic to audiences even during the darkest time of the year.
Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth’s Winter Circus is a Finnish tradition that has taken place annually since 1994. This year’s show, Super, transforms Dance House Helsinki’s Erkko hall into a battle arena with good guys, bad guys, and the ordinary performing mind-blowing moves to amaze the audience.
The show premieres on 1 December and is directed by Sanna Silvennoinen, who is known among other things for her work with Circo Aereo and the Finnish National Opera’s grand CircOpera productions. Performers include the Finnish-South African trapeze trio Wise Fools and Mexican clown Gaby Muñoz. The entire cast of the show is very international, includes circus artists and musicians from Australia, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Mexico, Switzerland and South Africa.
The range of circus disciplines seen in the show is extensive, including several kinds of aerial acrobatics, martial arts, trampoline, and clowning. Live music is provided by circus band Ninja Beat. This is the second year that the Winter Circus takes place in Dance House Helsinki’s Erkko hall, whose height of 11 metres gives the show an impressive backdrop. Winter Circus Super can be seen in Helsinki until 28 January 2024 and it is suitable for all ages upwards from 3 years.
Physical comedy under a new name – and words
Another staple of Finnish late-year circus events, Kallo Collective’s NouNous Festival of physical comedy, has changed its name and is now known as OuNous Festival. This year’s festival is already the sixth edition and will again present a wonderful selection of Finnish and international shows.
The festival will take place 7–10 December at Cirko – Centre for New Circus in Helsinki. The festival programme opens with Lotta & Stina’s acrobatic 20 years later, still here!, which gets its Helsinki premiere. Also seen for the first time in Helsinki are Company Afterclap’s energetic Red Hot Condition, and Apparat, a juggling show by the Swedish company Kapsel’s Eric Åberg and Jay Gilligan.
VAL, a performance and light sculpture envisioned by Svalbard Company’s Tom Brand, can be seen during the festival in two different improvised pieces by different artist pairs. And finally the programme comes to a close on Sunday night with Into the Wild, a hilarious satire by Henni Kervinen and Riina Tikkanen. In addition to performances, OuNous Festival’s programme includes two art and policy discussions on Thursday and Friday, and in Saturday evening’s Ounous Soiree the festival’s house artists will present samples of the work they’ve done during the week.