Dancing Bear

“God is not male or female. God is not gay or straight. God is not a culture war.”

Dancing Bear is about a young man whose heart is trapped between lives, entwined in a devotion to God and an emerging sexuality, he’s growing desperate for clarity and answers. But even though Dancing Bear is trying his best, he’s trudging a dark and lonely road, having spent his life pleasing others and internalising shame. Now he’s looking for relief like his life depends on it.

Fusing storytelling, contemporary dance, personal testimony, drag performance and live music, the show flips between catchy pop tunes and dramatic storytelling to explore the desperate tightrope of personal integrity, social acceptance and mental health that many LGBTQ+ people may find themselves precariously walking.

Conceived by director/musician Jamie Fletcher and writer/musician Beccy Owen, Dancing Bear stars BBC3’s Drag Race UK queen Davina De Campo and features a multi-talented cast of ten. At its centre is a question that is relevant to people of all backgrounds and beliefs: ‘how and who should we love?’

Dancing Bear previewed at Contact in February 2016 as part of Queer Contact Festival as well as a performance at West Yorkshire Playhouse as part of LGBT History Month. The show was presented at Palace Theatre Manchester in February 2018 as part of Queer Contact.

Dancing Bear integrates BSL into the show.

DOWNLOAD:

The ‘Dancing Bear (Original Cast Recording)’ album is available to download online: www.jamiefletcherandcompany.bandcamp.com

CREDITS:

A Jamie Fletcher & Company and Contact Co-Production.

Originally commissioned by Contact for Queer Contact Festival.

Supported by West Yorkshire Playhouse, Theatre in the Mill, Yorkshire Dance, Live Art Bistro, LCI (Leeds Church Institute), Chritsian SeedBed Trust, chapelFM and Arts Council England.