about

Luis Sartori do Vale is a performing artist, director and visual artist. Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, he's currently based in Helsinki, Finland.

After a diploma in Visual Arts from the Fine Arts Academy of UFMG (Brazil), he graduated from the Ecole Supérieure des Arts du Cirque (ESAC, Belgium) as a circus artist.

Besides his own projects, he has worked and collaborated with several directors and companies such as Rolf Alme, Reynaldo Ramperssad, Petri Dish, Hurjaruuth, Kallo Collective, WHS, Archaos and Les 7 Doigts de la Main.

In 2012 he co-founded the Finnish company Nuua, becoming a laureate of the international project Circus Next, with the performance LENTO. With the same performance, he has been awarded the Special Prize of the Jury in the 35th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain, in Paris.

In 2018 he co-founded the company Portmanteau, with Mira Ravald, being awarded the Sirkuksen Lumo Prize 2018 by Circusinfo Finland, as an acknowledgement for the work done to promote the Finnish circus arts.

In 2023 he became the first circus artist in Finland to be awarded the State's honorary grant and title of 'Artist Professor'.

He has performed in more than 25 countries worldwide. When not working with performing arts, he develops projects as a visual artist, between illustration, video, photography and installations.

“I’m interested in exploring the dialogue and the interaction between circus arts and other art forms, concepts and techniques, in a constant research for new and poetic aesthetics inside the performing
arts. As a circus artist, I’m interested in exploring technical skills as tools of communication, rather than virtuosity.

By working with universal and identifiable concepts I aim to create a strong connection with the audience, on the emotional and sensitive level. With a focus on poetic, visual metaphors, delicate and minimalistic aesthetics, my goal is to invite the audience to interpret and feel a performance based on their own personal experiences.”