It all started in China a long time ago. Some historians talk about the diabolo existing in the Han dynasty in the year 300 AD, others confirm that it already existed in the Chang dynasty (1766-1112 BC). Which would imply almost 4.000 years of history. Back then it’s name was “Kouen-gen”, that means “whistling the hollow bamboo log”, and that was basically what it did. It was made from bamboo, and the cups had some cracks that, when spinning, they generated a magical whistling sound. The word “magical” might be exaggerated, but it is not. The purpose of this sound was to scare away evil spirits.

I like to say that I inverted the polarity of the diabolo and instead of scaring away evil spirits, it attracts the good ones...

In the late eighteenth century, the French colonies that invaded China took the diabolo to Europe. There, it adopted it’s occidental name that comes from ancient greek. “Diaballo” (to throw in). In the early nineteenth century it became a toy that kids and grownups would share. It’s success was so great in England and France, that starting from 1810, clubs and tournaments were organized in the high society. In 1906, the french Gustave Philippart designed a metal and rubber diabolo that became the modern diabolo standard, being more resistant and aerodynamic. It’s practice went down after World War I. Little by little the habit was lost, like many other toys, they began to rust and cover with dust between forgotten objects.

In the last period of the twentieth century, it rose back from the ashes, like a phoenix, to fly higher than ever. In the hands of jugglers and street artists, the diabolo found it’s place in the world. It stopped being a high class exclusive toy and become a popular one.

It went from being a mystical element to scare evil spirits to being a children toy. To then transform into an art (which is, from my point of view, a mix of both).

The first time I played with a diabolo was in the year 1996. With 16 years, I was just beginning to discover the circus world. The diabolo awakened my curiosity for the unknown. Not so many people in Argentina played with this element. I then approached the few people that did to learn how. The years went by and it became my specialty, and I became known in my country for my ability with this element. I appropriated the diabolo. I made it mine to then share it with the world. I mixed it with my roots, with my history. My mother and my father are both scientists, physicists to be precise. I became friends with the circular motion, it’s properties and it’s strengths. That was how one day I was caught in the twirling and the spinning. In the year 2001, fusing the diabolo with a whipping top and a gyroscope, I invented my own element. From there, tricks, characters and stories were born. Since then it’s my adventure companion. An extension of my body. My way to communicate. Between games and searches a symbiotic relationship was created. To the diabolo, I owe the birth of “Brunitus”.