What does hard work, black coffee, woollen sweaters and Ikea all have in common?
They are all part of our everyday life in the North, and they are all part of this circus show.
Three circus artists from Finland, Sweden and Iceland share the stage to explore, reflect and celebrate their Northerness. Using live music, juggling, comedy and aerial acrobatics the artists bring the audience a show that is as awkward as it is unforgettable.
The show is blunt and to the point in a way that only Finnish humour can be, Swedishly self-aware and with a hint of Icelandic peculiarity.
The Nordic Council was founded in 2017 by Merri Heikkilä (Finland), Bjarni Árnason (Iceland) and Jakob Jacobsson (Sweden), whilst the three performers were still studying at Codarts Circus Arts in Rotterdam. In the fall of 2017 the trio applied for the circus creation support program Circunstruction, and under the supervision of Jördis Cordua and with the direction of Gerindo Kartadinata they created a draft version of their first show, `Three men from the North ́.
From early stages on, the material took form by working with visual ideas of framing and spacing the circus disciplines within both the scenography and music. The utilisation of live music played a key role in the creation process, and also extended into the use of pre-recorded tracks by having them played from a cassette player on stage. The live music being performed during the juggling acts goes beyond being a backing track, as the juggling often is dependent on actions that happen on the musician's end of the routine.
After the brief initial creation phase, the company spent time in residencies in Finland, Latvia, Denmark and the Netherlands to finish the show which premiered in november 2019.
‘Three men from the North’ is suitable for all ages, and was created with support by Dynamo Workspace (DK), Sirkus Faktori (FI), Rigas Cirks (LV), and Circunstruction (NL).
The show is written and performed by Merri Heikkilä, Jakob Jacobsson and Bjarni Árnason.
In 2021 it won the Nordic Fringe Network award and the Reykjavik Grapevine award.