Kevin O’Keefe

Kevin O’Keefe discovered Circus Minimus in 1985 when he found a small suitcase outside his apartment in NYC. He filled it with everything he would need to perform The One-Man Circus-in-a-Suitcase around the world.

Circus Minimus has expanded to include programs that have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of families. Kevin has been designing and leading in-school residencies for over 25 years. He is a master of integrating core curriculum through the practice of circus. Kids embrace the circus as a touchstone and walk away from his residencies enthusiastic about learning and fully embodied with the experience. The Circus Kids Create is an artist-in-residence program that creates a community-based circus. The One-Man Circus-in-a-Suitcase continues to perform in schools, theaters and community centers around the world. During the school year Circus Minimus collaborates with schools for a variety of In-School Residencies that let students join the circus without having to leave school. These include The Circus Around the World, Time Machine Circus, CircusYoga and The Human Body, CircusYoga and Life Sciences and more.

Other integrated curriculums that Kevin has designed include The Peace Circus, Circus Poeticus (with BJ Ward and 600 children), Circus Musicus (with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic Orchestra and 220 children), Circus Soup (with sixty adults and children with disabilities), and Circo Musico (in Spanish with Douglas Day and 200 children).

Since 1989 Kevin has toured New England in the summer, creating original productions with kids and their communities. Original thematic shows have included: Harry Potter Saves Circus Minimus, Beatlemania, Mardi Gras Gumbo,  Circus H2O!, Circus Minimus Takes Flight, The Emerald City Circus, It’s All Greek to Me!, Clown: The Fifth Element, Around the World in 80 Minutes, and many others.

Kevin was an SAG & Equity actor for many years in New York. He is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theater. In 1998, with his wife Erin Maile, Kevin co-founded the practice and community of CircusYoga - The Art of Human Play. He has taught yoga, circus, theater and clown all over the world and at Sarah Lawrence College in the Theater MFA program.

Kevin O’Keefe is the founder and past president of the American Youth Circus Organization.