Hovey Burgess literally wrote the book on Circus Techniques (1976) which is still in print. Carlo Mazzone-Clementi considered Hovey his colleague working with him at New York University and American Conservatory Theatre and spending endless days and night exploring Commedia Dell'Arte. He has taught at some of the finest professional conservatory programs in theatre. He taught at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, Ultimate Clown School, Dell'Arte, and is a forty year veteran of New York University where he first introduced the concept of Circus Arts in the theater curriculum, an idea which quickly spread to theaters programs across America. He also taught at The Juilliard School, American Conservatory Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College, National Theatre for the Deaf, National Theatre School of Canada, and the Israeli National Theatre for Youth. Hovey was circus choreographer for the motion picture Popeye (1980) staring his former Juilliard student Robin Williams. In 1991 he received the Red Skelton Award and in 1997 the International Jugglers Associations Award for Excellence in Education. "Hovey was my first mentor and is still my hero" Avner the Eccentric. At Circus Flora Hovey is the dramaturg. He is a contributing editor to Spectacle, a circus quarterly.

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