Circus and Dance Info Finland has awarded its annual Sirkuksen Lumo prize to artistic director Pirjo Yli-Maunula for the Flow Circus Series, which has brought a significant amount of high-quality Finnish and international circus performances to Oulu over ten years.
Pirjo Yli-Maunula’s career spans over 40 years. She has worked in Oulu in the north of Finland as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and artistic director at i.a. Oulu Dance Studio and JoJo – Oulu Dance Centre. Since 2006 her production company is Flow Productions, for whom she directs and produces i.a. site-specific immersive works and curates the Flow Circus Series. The series brings circus performances to Oulu in cooperation with many of Oulu’s cultural operators.
Since 2013, the Flow Circus Series has brought a significant amount of high-quality circus performances from Finland and abroad to Oulu and created an excellent atmosphere for the audience to see high-quality performances, as stated in the award criteria.
The expert curation of performances and the unprejudiced trust in their audiences have created new audiences for circus arts in Oulu. To date, the series has seen 76 performances, a third of which have been international visits. They have filled the auditoriums and been enthusiastically received. Pirjo Yli-Maunula’s professionalism and dedication are also of great importance to the artists.
The production of the series, an innovative collaboration between several local actors, has made Oulu one of the most important circus cities in Finland. The magic of circus has taken over Oulu.
The Sirkuksen Lumo Prize is awarded by Circusinfo Finland as an acknowledgement for work done to promote Finnish circus art. It can be awarded to a person, group, show, event or other action that has helped the development and success of circus art. The Sirkuksen Lumo Prize has been awarded since 2009. The 2023 award was delivered at the Culture House Valve in Oulu on February 28, 2024.