In this Solo I’m dealing with the dancing bear as a symbol for the loss of liberty and the repression of wildness. The dancing bear is a tamed wild animal, full of terrifying power. He got robbed of his liberty and its wildness got turned into foolish dances. But can it ever be tamed fully? Is it ever becoming a harmless cuddly bear? I use the image of the dancing bear as a metaphor for my life, my work, my experiences. How much am I forced to do things, I didn’t chose myself? How much am I caught in systems, I didn’t decide for? And are the things, I’m obliged to do, producing only agony or can they also provide joy? In the Solo I try to face this ambivalence. Furthermore I’m strongly interested in the power and potential I can find inside of the dancing bear.

Mathis Kleinschnittger studied contemporary and classical dance at the university for performing arts in Frankfurt/Main as well as cultural studies in Potsdam. He lives and works in Berlin and the choreographers and directors he worked with lately were Isabelle Schad, Jessica Huber, Armin Petras, Philipp Saire among others. Besides his work as performer he also assists and teaches for creations of other artists. Since 2012 he developes his own choreographic work und was part of the PAP-Mentoring-program Berlin.