The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Trio
Experience the great traditions of American entertainment with real live sideshow feats! Bindlestiff Family Cirkus has traveled the world bringing its unique hybrid of vaudeville, circus and sideshow spectacle to communities far and wide.
With Dynamic Trio, three multi-skilled artists perform dazzling juggling displays, interactive audience participation, gut-busting comedy and edge-of-your-seat daredevil feats, including a live sword swallower. These world-class performers can also be found on stage in productions by Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Brothers and on Broadway. Whether you’re a child or a child at heart, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Dynamic Trio offers fun for the whole family!
Meet Bindlestiff
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, founded by Keith Nelson and Stephanie Monseu in 1995, prides itself on being an integral part of America’s outstanding folk traditions of circus, sideshow, and vaudeville. Bindlestiff’s activities fall into three main areas: producing original shows, festivals, and public events; supporting emerging circus and variety artists with grants and high-production value showcases; and bringing accessible, high-quality circus arts education to youth and communities. Over the decades, Bindlestiff has presented nearly 600 of the world’s top artists in the circus and variety fields. Shows in our home regions of NYC and the Hudson Valley, as well as national touring in the United States, have engaged audiences in the hundreds of thousands, with performances in theaters, Spiegeltents, big tops, cruise ships, fairs and festivals, including 2017’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, celebrating the cultural heritage of the American circus on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Keith Nelson (he/him) is co-founder and executive director of Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, and is a world-renowned variety artist—prop manipulator, physical comedian, juggler, and sideshow entertainer, as well as a circus producer. He learned to juggle and eat fire at Hampshire College in 1989. He moved to New York City and almost instantly devoted his life to circus. Keith swallows swords, spins tops, juggles plates, balances glasses, and manipulates just about anything. Keith has been featured on Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and OZ (season one). He is a professor of circus arts. From New York to the Caribbean, to China and across the United States, Keith has taught thousands of people to juggle and balance objects, and entertained millions more.
Ellie Steingraeber (she/her) has folded into a pretzel on the Tonight Show and flown 70 feet in the air at Madison Square Garden. She has celebrated over 15 years as a circus and variety artist. She has traveled the globe performing unique acts in some of the world’s strangest venues, ridden on top of elephants in small town circus shows across America, and brought joy to countless audiences through tv appearances, theatrical circus shows and street performances.
Ryan Shinji Murray (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary circus artist. He has performed around the world with Cirque Éloize’s iD and as an original cast member of Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios—touring with the show for seven years. Along with his partner Juanita Cardenas, he received the MAP Fund Grant and developed a new work of dance, puppetry, and circus entitled The Void. Based in Brooklyn, he collaborates regularly with several different companies and stages including ABCirque, 3AM Theatre, Parallel Exit, Westchester Circus Arts and the Metropolitan Opera. He also coaches circus arts at Circus Academy New York.
@ryanshinji
