Kevin Beverley knew that he wanted to be a part of Cirque du Soleil from a very young age. Growing up in Chicago, he took gymnastics classes as a child, then switched to dance because one of his friends did. But it turns out that it was a good move. Kevin says that he became known as “the dancer who can flip.”
Then, after six years of competitive dance, this happened:
“I saw Cirque du Soliel on TV. I saw it on, like, Bravo. They were doing a documentary series, and then the documentary series finished up with showing one of their shows. And I was blown away,” he tells me under The Big Top during a recent visit. “I was absolutely astonished that this world of dancing and music and theater and acrobatics could come together as one.”
I asked Kevin what his parents thought when he told them that he wanted to run away with the circus.
“I have amazing parents. I am very, very lucky. My dad had a little less ‘go-for-it’ attitude as my mom did.”
Interesting. I thought that it would be more the other way around.
“Mom was always the one sacrificing everything to take me to dance, take me competition. She was the one taking care of all that.”
Kevin went to an art high school in Chicago, where he studied dance. He says that the school was so prestigious, that if you were to graduate but not go on to a conservatory or dance college, people would ask, “Why did you even come here?”
“I knew I wanted to move to Montreal. I wanted to go to a circus school. My dad was like, ‘Just audition for a couple of dance programs just do it for me.’ So, I did that for him. My dad wanted a little bit of security for me ‘just in case’, but I was not gonna go that route. I’m the youngest of three boys. I’m very hardheaded.”
“My dad used to say to my mom, ‘You would have never let Mike (the oldest brother) do that. I always got away with a lot. My oldest brother was an academic, extremely smart. My middle brother was a sports star, and I was like, the artist. I was like, I’m gonna go my own path. I think my dad came around to it fast. Now he’s so incredibly proud of me.”
It’s a small world after all
Cirque du Soliel’s productions are known for their wide range of international acts and performers. Since Kevin is one of the few Americans traveling with their KOOZA show, I was curious about what it’s like working and traveling with so many different people and nationalities.
“Honestly, it’s amazing,” he beamed. “It’s exactly the life that I wanted for myself when I was a kid. When I saw that [documentary], I imagined it would be something like this. And after growing up and seeing more shows and meeting the artists, I realized that this was the exact life that I wanted for myself. I feel very fortunate that I get to work with and talk to and experience and laugh with people from all over the world. I feel very blessed.”
From what I gather, the feeling is mutual. It didn’t take long for Kevin to ‘fit in.’
“I really enjoy learning a little bit of every language; funny words, bad words and words that we use every day like ‘I’m tired’ or ‘I’m hungry.;”
He also enjoys understanding how humor is expressed with each nationality.
“Russian humor is not the same as Mongolian humor, and American humor is not the same as French humor, you know? So, it’s like a big, messy family that is… that’s beautiful.”
I ask Kevin if he found himself making any embarrassing faux pas with his new family.
“That’s a good question. No, not really. When you come onto a team that has like 23 Russians, you’d expect them to be, like, they’re going to be really intimidating and mean. But they’re not. They do take a second to get warm with you. They’re not like Americans or Canadians who will give you a hug right away and say things like, ‘Hey, man, how’s it going?’ It takes a second. But once you get across that barrier, they’re teddy bears.”
Life as a Trickster
Cirque du Soliel describes the tale of KOOZA as a self-discovery journey of one character called “The Innocent,” who gets transported to an “exotic yet zany kingdom.” It is there that he meets the Trickster, who has unique powers. Kevin has the honor of playing the Trickster.
“He calls the shots. He runs everything. He is the most powerful person in this universe. He’s not good, but he’s not bad. He very conniving. He’s very scary.”
But Kevin says the trickster, has a soft side, too.
“He’s intimidating, but at the same time, he’s like, ‘I got you. It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay. I’ll bring you under my wing, but don’t cross me.'”
In addition to Trickster’s storyline, KOOZA also features a variety of other acts, including a duo unicycle, a “wheel of death,” contortionists, acrobatics, high-wire acts, hula hoops, clowns, and more.
Despite what you’ve seen in the movies, life on the road is different than what you might expect. They don’t all live together in a communal living situation. While stationed in Redmond, Kevin has his own apartment, not that he gets to spend much time there. He tells me that the troupe’s schedules are “really intense” but it’s “a beautiful thing.”
“We all have really good jobs, and we work really hard and we love what we do, but, you know, eight to ten shows a week, I don’t know if people realize how demanding that is. I guess that you could say that surprised me, in a way, when I joined Cirque back in 2018. But now, I’m quite used to that.”
He also says that his time here is a personal journey. He doesn’t expect the stage managers to remind him to get some rest. He needs to keep himself healthy, as well as his fellow performers.
“We have to put health and safety at the top. We come in and do really dangerous and life-threatening things. We chose a life, and we chose a job that is extremely dangerous, and we can’t forget about that because accidents do happen. It’s a really terrible, and it’s a really scary thing, but it’s just a part of our life and a part of the job.”
Only time will tell
Although he looks 25, Kevin is actually 35 years old. He knows he can’t do this forever, and he’s not sure how long his body will allow him to perform.
“When they contacted me to do KOOZA, I was with another company and the work that I was doing there was a lot more physical, like really high-level tricks that were harder for my body. So, when I got this job being more of a dance role, more of a character role, I was really excited because I knew I would like to do this a little bit longer. I don’t have a date of how long I think I can do it, but I’m six months in and I want to stand until they’re like, ‘Get off the stage. You look old.’”
Kevin says that one of his favorite moments during his performance is during a “really cool illusion” that happens when he enters the stage.
“I’m being very honest with you, when you’re tired and the realities of performing and stuff like that hit you, and then you hear the applause from the audience, it’s all worth the fatigue and all of the little body pains that I have. The moment that I get onto the stage, and I hear the little gasps and applause from the audience, it’s all worth it.”
