Who We Are?
We are Tobi & finn
That is Tobias Kämpfer and Finn Waltersmann and together we are the juggling duo TOBI & FINN originally from Bünde, Germany. We have been working together for about five years and will both graduate from the University Codarts in the summer of 2021 with a Bachelor of Circus Arts.
Our paths crossed early, growing up in the same small town with only one youth circus nearby – the encounter was inevitable. We spent a few years there, first learning about circus and later teaching at the same time. One year before we graduated from high school, we decided to train independently from a group and do our own thing. Spontaneously, we realized the idea of going to a professional circus school and attended the preparatory school Carampa, in Madrid for a year. After that, our way led to Rotterdam where we could dive deeper into the subject in the four-year course.
During our collaboration, it became clear that juggling is not just about throwing and catching clubs. We understand juggling as a form of expressive movement which does not only involve our hands but the whole body. Where does the dance begin and where does the juggling? What musicality is there in a specific movement? Exciting questions that we always keep in mind in our creations.
Tobi
Tobi fell in love with circus when he was only 10 years old. His two older siblings were already part of the youth circus and his mom was helping backstage, therefore he was often around but wasn’t allowed on stage yet. Finally, one day the director came to him and asked if he would like to join the show – enthusiasm started shining out of his eyes.
Because his siblings liked aerials he wanted to choose something else – it turned out to be juggling, which he still enjoys doing today. Something else he is fascinated by is dance. In the past four years, he has watched and practiced more and more. Since then, he likes to dance with his clubs and continuously research new possibilities of combining the two.
FINN
As the youngest and tallest of four brothers, Finn always used to stick out in many ways. Next to spending his teenage years at the youth circus Karibu, he invested his free time into learning about music in all it’s facettes. Playing and touring with the percussion ensemble Banda Westfalica of the city’s music school he started gathering performance experience from a young age.
As Piano and Saxophone were added to the repertoire, he also joined the band of the youth circus, jumping back and forth between the stage and the band stand. Since then he believes in the strong interdependence of circus and music and in the versatile function of the soundtrack within theater, dance and circus.
