Arctic Ensemble is a contemporary circus group specializing in double cradle. When they perform in their own brand new tent, they combine the traditional set up with contemporary circus. At the Stockholm CirkusExpo event in February 2025, they pitch their new successful creation Ensembled.
Text: Evianna Lehtipuu. Originally published in the Finnish Circus & Dance in Focus 2025 magazine.
In a brand new blue and white tent, a show by Finnish contemporary circus group Arctic Ensemble is about to start. The show begins with the crew introducing themselves to the audience, thus creating a cozy, welcoming atmosphere that lasts during the whole performance.
Founded in 2018, the Finnish contemporary circus group Arctic Ensemble has achieved a lot during the past few years: touring with the Finnish national circus Sirkus Finlandia; an intense period of shows in a Japanese theme park; performing in The Hippodrome, UK; founding a touring street art festival during the time of covid restrictions; winning prizes at the Young Stage Festival in Basel, Switzerland, including the Cirque du Soleil Award for Innovative Artistic Vision and Performance.
If this all doesn’t sound breathtaking enough, add the fact that the group also bought a circus tent of their own where their newest work Ensembled premiered in 2024.
”Versatility motivates me,” says Minna Pulsa, one of the ten circus artists in the group.
Collaboration as a core value
Arctic Ensemble is a contemporary circus group specializing in double cradle, an impressive circus discipline demanding high technical skills, precise timing and collaboration.
Double cradle brought the ensemble on tour with Sirkus Finlandia, the oldest traditional circus in Finland, in 2018. The following year, the group got a contract in Japan. Performing their 40 minute piece in warm weather two or three times a day was a physically demanding experience for the young artists, but made the group tight. With minor changes in the cast, the core of the group has stayed the same during the years – seven of the original members remain.
”Collaboration, exact timing and knowing each other is so important in this discipline,” explains Armas Lintusaari, circus artist and member of the collective.
”In a big group, the most important thing is communication”, Lintusaari says.
”We have been working together with this big group for a long time, which can be seen in our performance as well. You cannot replace the time spent together with anything else.”
Democratic ways of working
All members of Arctic Ensemble are circus artists from their background, but to run the company, they all take care of other tasks as well.
Armas Lintusaari, for example, has taken production-related tasks to his to-do list: ”I think verbally, so writing grant applications works naturally for me, whereas some of us prefer to do things with their hands, like repair trucks. We all have our own tasks and responsibilities in the group. We are many, so we can share the work so that no one gets overloaded.”
”Sometimes people wonder if it really is true that we don’t have anyone in charge of the group. But we prefer to work in a democratic way, listening to everyone. For instance, Ensembled is a joint vision. It was created through teamwork and it combines the ideas from all of us.”
A tent of one’s own
”To have our own tent was a dream that many of us had. We didn’t have any romantic ideas about it though, as our career as professionals started with a tour in a traditional circus and we had seen what it was like. But the idea of freedom, self-sufficiency and our own space did fascinate us,” Lintusaari ponders.
The group is happy with the opportunities that the tent gives them, even if it means physical work in rain or wind sometimes.
”When we perform in a tent, we combine the traditional set up with contemporary circus,” says Minna Pulsa. ”It gives us so many new possibilities.”
”On the other hand, it would be interesting to create a performance for touring in indoor spaces also. We are open to all kinds of ideas, also crazy ones,” Lintusaari laughs.
”We like to do things in diverse ways, and always for the audience.”