When Jochen Schell saw the Japanese artist Koma Zuru in a French Circus in 1988 he was impressed and wanted to know more about the subject.
Mr Schell met Mr Zuru but he had to find his own way with the tops.
Over the next couple of years Schell used his lathe to build and experiment with many different shaped spinning tops.
While practicing his skill with the tops themselves Jochen gave careful thought to the character and presentation that he would adopt for this new act.
As he had when he built up his Diabolo act and his Ring act, his focus was on the creation of uncommon stage pictures.
The importance of the “single sequences” (as opposed to the more mobile transitions) brought him around to the more traditional “gentleman juggler” character. But from there he couldn’t help but add the darker twist that is his own personal touch.
