ABOUT SISUS
Sisus is an all-female contemporary circus company from Finland. It was founded by Iida Sipilä, Inka Pehkonen, Milla Lahtinen, Rosa Tyyskä and Sofia Defour in 2014. These childhood friends found their root in youth circus activities and have always combined their distinctive sense of humour with a love for circus. Their aim is to bring the message of friendship, joy and creative wildness to the audiences and the motto of the company goes 'More is more'.
Sisus comes from a finnish word Sisu and is actually quite impossible to translate into a single English word. It loosely means strength of will, determination, perseverance, long-term thinking and acting rationally and with integrity in the face of adversity. It is about pushing your boundaries and approaching seemingly insurmountable challenges head-on even if the odds appear firmly stacked against you. – This description of the word Sisus gives a good insight to the values of our company, our line of the artistic work.
Sisus is an all-female contemporary circus company from Finland. It was founded by Iida Sipilä, Inka Pehkonen, Milla Lahtinen, Rosa Tyyskä and Sofia Defour in 2014. These childhood friends found their root in youth circus activities and have always combined their distinctive sense of humour with a love for circus. Their aim is to bring the message of friendship, joy and creative wildness to the audiences and the motto of the company goes 'More is more'.
Sisus comes from a finnish word Sisu and is actually quite impossible to translate into a single English word. It loosely means strength of will, determination, perseverance, long-term thinking and acting rationally and with integrity in the face of adversity. It is about pushing your boundaries and approaching seemingly insurmountable challenges head-on even if the odds appear firmly stacked against you. – This description of the word Sisus gives a good insight to the values of our company, our line of the artistic work.
FOUNDING MEMBERS OF SISUS
IIDA SIPILÄ
Disciplines: swinging trapeze, floor acrobatics, pyramids, skipping rope
About Iida:
"Iida, or Iitu as most people call her, loves the heights and excitement. After graduating from Lahti circus school she continued her studies in the Netherlands, graduating with a bachelors degree in Arts.
Iitu is open minded and a bit of an anarchist. She loves meeting new people, and the doors of her van are always open for friends, guests or hitch-hikers. Iitu is also the founder of the embarrassment club, that is all about self-humiliation, the club has been completing embarrassing tasks since 2000. We should all learn not to take ourselves too serious, right?"
IIDA SIPILÄ
Disciplines: swinging trapeze, floor acrobatics, pyramids, skipping rope
About Iida:
"Iida, or Iitu as most people call her, loves the heights and excitement. After graduating from Lahti circus school she continued her studies in the Netherlands, graduating with a bachelors degree in Arts.
Iitu is open minded and a bit of an anarchist. She loves meeting new people, and the doors of her van are always open for friends, guests or hitch-hikers. Iitu is also the founder of the embarrassment club, that is all about self-humiliation, the club has been completing embarrassing tasks since 2000. We should all learn not to take ourselves too serious, right?"
INKA PEHKONEN
Disciplines: Washington trapeze, handstand, vertical rope, pyramids, skipping rope
About Inka:
"Most of her day she spends upside down. Standing on her head or hands, on the floor or on the Washington trapeze. Inka is a hard worker, with a great Yes!-attitude, that motivates also the people around her.
She has a sparkling flirtatious character on and off stage. Inka is also the most musical one from Sisus, and she plays the traditional Finnish instrument called Kantele. This is the very powerful instrument that the famous Finnish national hero, Mr. Väinämöinen used to sink his rival, Mr. Joukahainen into the swamp!"
INKA PEHKONEN
Disciplines: Washington trapeze, handstand, vertical rope, pyramids, skipping rope
About Inka:
"Most of her day she spends upside down. Standing on her head or hands, on the floor or on the Washington trapeze. Inka is a hard worker, with a great Yes!-attitude, that motivates also the people around her.
She has a sparkling flirtatious character on and off stage. Inka is also the most musical one from Sisus, and she plays the traditional Finnish instrument called Kantele. This is the very powerful instrument that the famous Finnish national hero, Mr. Väinämöinen used to sink his rival, Mr. Joukahainen into the swamp!"
MILLA LAHTINEN
Disciplines: Hand to hand, swinging trapeze, aerial hoop, pyramids, skipping rope
About Milla
"Milla is an acrobat on the ground and in the air. She´s specialized in hand-to -hand and swinging trapeze and performs also on the aerial hoop. Her sense of rhythm is unfailing, both on stage and when she´s hitting the dance floor in the after party.
She’s easy to approach, and when she opens her mouth you´ll be blown away by her amazing baby-voice. Probably she will also have some left over from the ice cream she just ate on her shirt. Milla is a loyal friend, trustworthy and always caring for the ones near to her. It´s easy to fire her up, Milla is always ready for new challenges and adventures"
MILLA LAHTINEN
Disciplines: Hand to hand, swinging trapeze, aerial hoop, pyramids, skipping rope
About Milla
"Milla is an acrobat on the ground and in the air. She´s specialized in hand-to -hand and swinging trapeze and performs also on the aerial hoop. Her sense of rhythm is unfailing, both on stage and when she´s hitting the dance floor in the after party.
She’s easy to approach, and when she opens her mouth you´ll be blown away by her amazing baby-voice. Probably she will also have some left over from the ice cream she just ate on her shirt. Milla is a loyal friend, trustworthy and always caring for the ones near to her. It´s easy to fire her up, Milla is always ready for new challenges and adventures"
ROSA TYYSKÄ
Disciplines: Cyr-wheel, handstand, vertical rope, pyramids, skipping rope
About Rosa:
"Rosa is specialized in Cyr-wheel. Like all Sisus members she started circus at a young age in the youth circus. She continued to Lahti circus school, where she discovered her passion for the spinning wheel. After graduating she has been performing all over Europe with her solo act.
She may have an innocent or shy looking cover, but under that she has the most rancid sense of humor. Rosa is the most introvert person of the group. Traveling through Europe in a camper van, with five sweaty circus girls, who haven´t showered for a week, can be hard for her (which is quite strange for the rest of us). But during out years together, we've learned, that if we give her five minutes time on her own every now and then, she remains co-operative!"
SOFIA DEFOUR
Disciplines: Hand to hand, Chinese pole, pyramids, skipping rope
About Sofia:
"These flexible legs don´t go unnoticed. Sofia has attitude, and when she is on stage, you can see that she throws herself 100% in it, and loves it. She doesn´t take herself too serious, and when her diva character gets going on stage, it doesn´t leave anyone cold. Her main disciplines are hand to hand (ass to face, as they call it) with Milla and Chinese pole.
Off the stage she is the mother character of Sisus, cooking the most delicious meals from basically anything there is, making breakfast and dinner for the rest of Sisus almost every day. When Sofia decides something she´s really determined, going for her dreams and making things happen."
PRODUCTION
FARINA BERNDT
Disciplines: Excel, Emails, Production
About Farina:
After Farina decided at the age of 10 that she will never become a professional juggler, she decided to work in the world of contemporary circus as a producer. Being the only one without a Finnish background in the company, she at least has a strong connection to Sweden, where she worked with Subcase and Subtopia several times. Her base is her really loved hometown Berlin, where she works with the Berlin Circus Festival since 2018.
Being from Berlin, Farina surprisingly prefers dancing on 80s trash parties and drinking Aperol spritz instead of going to one of the 10.000s techno clubs in her city. Farina is always up to laugh and has a positive aura.