The Circus and Dance Info Finland has awarded the Sirkuksen Lumo Award to the circus company Arctic Ensemble. Their skilful and compelling group acrobatics have attracted attention in international and national arenas. In the summer, the company will tour Finland with a brand new big top of their own.
Arctic Ensemble is a Finnish circus collective founded in 2018 by ambitious acrobats Ada Forsberg, Anselmi Kaisanlahti, Eino Kaisanlahti, Ilkka Kemppinen, Armas Lintusaari, Orfeo Llewellyn, Pihla Ojala, Emmi Peltola, Minna Pulsa and Linnea Purontaus. The company has toured with Finland’s greatest classical circus Sirkus Finlandia, performed in Germany’s largest arenas and attracted audiences in Japan. The Arctic Ensemble is an internationally award-winning ensemble with top-notch technical skills. Skilful and compelling group acrobatics is their trademark.
Artists who have been working together for a long time have bonded and there is a strong sense of community in what they do. They have created their touring mini-festival, Street Circus Carnival, and taken shows to places where circus is rarely seen. The jury for the Sirkuksen Lumo Award highlighted that the company had developed circus culture in Finland and brought opportunities also for other professionals to perform.
Last year, the company made a bold investment and bought a big top. Putting up a beautiful big top in a city is a great promotion for the circus. Touring with a big top in Finnish harsh weather conditions takes guts, commitment and an inner fire. That’s what the members of the Arctic Ensemble have. They want to invest in making circus arts accessible and expanding audiences in their home country, even if there are plenty of opportunities abroad. The ensemble exudes a great love of circus.
The 2024 Sirkuksen Lumo Award was presented at the joint Thalia Fest of the theatre, dance and circus sectors on 24 March 2025 in Helsinki.
The Sirkuksen Lumo Award is presented by the Circus and Dance Info Finland in recognition of the work done for Finnish circus art. The award can be given to a person, group, performance, event or other act or activity that has contributed to the development of the circus arts. Established by the CircusInfo Finland in 2008, the award has been presented since 2009.
The jury members for the award were journalists Heidi Horila, Tenka Issakainen, Nina Jääskeläinen and Emma Vainio. The jury was chaired by Tove Ekman, Executive Director of the Circus and Dance Info Finland.