Dancing the Bears Ears – Zvi Gotheiner (2017)


Dancing the Bears Ears was going to be a part of our spring concert EARTH TONE. Since the onset of COVID-19, the company is happy to offer the same resources online in digital format. Along with the full performances of Bears Ears and Castor & Pollux, be sure to take a look at the study guide created to go along with these pieces: YOU CAN ACCESS IT HERE!


Learn more about the Bears Ears residency here!

Watch Marty Buhler’s 11 minute documentary about the process that took place before the creation of Dancing the Bears Ears.

Dancing The Bears Ears (World Premiere Oct 2017)

Choreography: Zvi Gotheiner with the dancers

Music: Scott Killian (RDT commission)

Media Design: Josh Higgason

Lighting: Pilar I

Cast:  Jaclyn Brown, Lauren Curley, Trung “Daniel” Do, Dan Higgins, Elle Johansen, Jonathan Kim, Tyler Orcutt, Ursula Perry  

Dancing The Bears Ears was created by Zvi Gotheiner and the dancers to honor and celebrate the unprecedented convergence of the five American Native tribes that have been advocating for the preservation of their sacred lands.

Dancing The Bears Ears is a work inspired by our memories and encounters with the land and its people, a work animated with fragments of stories and laced with the spirit of ancient inhabitants. It is not a representational work meant to imitate or impersonate Native American people or culture. It is a dance about how this incredible sacred landscape healed us and brought us into a harmonious place. The dance is a “new ritual” to raise consciousness about the significance of this extraordinary area.

Learn more about Dancing the Bears Ears with these lesson plans:

Bears Ears Improvisation Circle

Bears Ears: Learn some repertory!

Bears Ears: Composition Lesson


Feel free to share these videos, embed them for your students, or link to this page. New online educational resources are being developed every day. If you have suggestions for what you’d like to see let us know: rdt@rdtutah.org.

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