Keith Hennessy, MFA, PhD, is a frolicker, imperfectionist, and witch working in the fields of contemporary dance, queer performance, affordable housing, erotic wellness, political healing and ritual. Raised in Canada, he has lived in Yelamu/San Francisco since 1982, and tours internationally. Keith started dancing Contact Improvisation (CI) in Montreal in 1979. Hennessy’s work is interdisciplinary and experimental, motivated by anti-racist, queer-feminist, and anarchist movements. With a focus on the poetics and politics of relationship, Keith’s work prioritizes collaboration, improvisation, and community process. Hennessy engages practices of improvisation and play to respond to political crises.
Keith’s awards include Guggenheim, USArtist, NY Bessie, and SF Izzies. Venues include Impulstanz/Vienna, Kampnagel/Hamburg, SF MOMA, The New Museum/NY, TBA Festival/Portland, Velocity/Seattle, Ponderosa/Germany, YBCA, CounterPulse, CORE/Atlanta. Keith’s collaborators include Ishmael Houston-Jones, Annie Danger, Sarah Crowell, Snowflake Calvert, Meg Stuart, Peaches, Nathaniel Moore, Jassem Hindi, jose abad, Peiling Kao, and Gerald Casel.
Hennessy directs Circo Zero and was a member of Contraband with Sara Shelton Mann. Hennessy is a co-founder of CounterPULSE (formerly 848 Community Space) a thriving performance space in San Francisco. Keith teaches widely at universities, festivals, and independent studios, most recently at La Manzana de Paxton in Oaxaca and Cornell University.