Sirkuksen Lumo 2018 Prize Awarded to Portmanteau

  • Mira Ravald and Luis Sartori Do Vale. (Image: Petri Tuohimaa)
  • Portmanteau, Luis Sartori do Vale and Mira Ravald. (Image: Laure Villain)

Circusinfo Finland has awarded its annual Sirkuksen Lumo Prize to Mira Ravald and Luis Sartori Do Vale’s show Portmanteau. The award was announced 11th March 2019 at the Thalia Gala, which is an annual event held by the circus, dance and theatre organizations of Finland.

Portmanteau is a multidisciplinary show which includes tightrope dancing, juggling, dance, live music and visual & light art. In their statement the jury considers Portmanteau to be artistically ambitious, stylish and well-polished piece of work that successfully combines different forms of art. Highly talented artists have created a piece that is appealing, warmhearted, innovative, charming and honest, and in which the stage work is skillful and even hypnotic at best. All the different elements, including music and light design, come together in a balanced performance that requires input from every member of the working group.

Portmanteau premiered at Flow Circus in Oulu, Finland 2-4 February 2018. After that it has been performed several times, including at Festival UP! in Belgium, March 2018, at Cirko – Center for New Circus in Helsinki, September 2018 and at Circus Ruska Festival in Tampere, Finland in February 2019. Next the show tours to Annemasse, France, where it can be seen at the Château Rouge, 22-23 March.

The Sirkuksen Lumo Prize is awarded by Circusinfo Finland as an acknowledgement for work done to promote Finnish circus art. It can be granted to a person, group, performance, event or other deed or action that has contributed to the development and prosperity of circus art. The prize was awarded for the first time in 2010.

The Sirkuksen Lumo jury consisted of journalists Annikki Alku, Nina Jääskeläinen and Maria Säkö and artist professor Pirjo Yli-Maunula. Circusinfo Finland’s managing director Lotta Vaulo acted as the jury’s chairperson.