Sirpa Suutari

Sirpa Suutari-Jääskö started dancing ballet at the age of 5 in her native town of Oulu, Finland. At 10, she switched to Dancesport.
Sirpa began to win a number of Dancesport Championships in Finland in the 10 Dance division with her partner, Timo Pukkila. She also began gathering several titles in the Junior category with Pekka Suutari-Jääskö. After that, she was a finalist in Junior Latin Championships with Tony Wong.

In 1989, Sirpa teamed up with Jukka Haapalainen and turned to the Professional division of Latin American Championships.

Professional Division
Jukka and Sirpa achieved many titles. Their accomplishments include becoming 4-time Professional Latin British Open to the World Champions, 2-time European Latin Champions, UK Open Professional Open to the World Champions, and International Professional Open to the World Champions.
At the peak streak of their success, during 1997-2001, they won a large number of 1st and 2nd places in various international championships.

They retired from competitive dance in 2002 and have become Latin Cabaret dance artists.

For their performances in Professional Latin DanceSport competitions, the couple has earned a number of (non-championship) awards, including the World Dance & DanceSport Council’s ”Isadora Duncan” Award (2002).

Stage, TV, and Performance
Sirpa and Jukka have been guest performers as well as adjudicators on Finland’s “Dancing with the Stars”. The couple has also performed various times in The World Super Stars Dance Festival. They have gone on tour throughout Europe, the Americas, Japan, China, the Philippines, and Australia.
Sirpa along with Jukka are the owners of their own Haapalainen SuutariJääskö Dance Studios. They also travel much between England, Finland, and Japan.