About Me

Daniel Bear Davis (MFA) is an interdisciplinary performance maker, movement educator, nationally certified massage therapist, and Somatic Experiencing® post-graduate student dedicated to support humans to step into greater aliveness and  resilience so we can more fully inhabit the details of our lived experience. Whether it’s through dance classes, massage therapy, or trauma re-negotiation this intent remains consistent.

 

Therapeutic Work

I have worked as a massage therapist since 2004 with training in Deep Tissue, Myo-fascial Release, Cranio-Sacral, Swedish Massage, and more. In 2013, I was certified as an Axis Syllabus teacher. This work has allowed me to bring specific movement coaching into my one-on-one work - empowering clients to support healthy movement patterns with every step. In 2012 I began training in Somatic Experiencing® (SE) and will complete the training in 2020. This work provides a variety of tools for clients to address trauma that has been stored in the nervous system. 

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Performance

I have been teaching and dancing Contact Improvisation, Axis Syllabus, Composition, Dance History, and Acrobatic Stilts for over half my life. Whatever the subject, I intend to offer tools to encourage range, choice, and curiosity. I have taught in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and throughout North America. Whether teaching physical skills or compositional practices, my intention is to foster tools for informed choice and increased possibility. I have been blessed with opportunities to perform with Guillermo Gomez Peña, Nancy Stark Smith, Nita Little, Pipaluk Supernova/Live Art Installations, Felix Ruckert, Kira Kirsch, Erika Tsimbrovsky, Scott Wells, Cid Pearlman, and many other inspiring body/minds. 

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I have performed on submarines, desert rocks, construction scaffolding, and art galleries. I've made pieces about dementia, gender, war, heritage, identity. I care about image, awe, and beauty. In creating wide and rich acceptance of what it is to be human.

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I worked with veterans and non-veterans in collaboration with Krista DeNio and EchoTheaterSuitcase project, and in San Quentin Prison with The Artistic Ensemble. My evening-length work, On Contentious Grounds, explored intersections between the experiences of students at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the experiences of oppression expressed in interviews I conducted with Palestinians in the West Bank. 

 

My work has been presented at Performaticá (Mexico) in the Imagining Bodies Symposium (Estonia), Dancing in Place Festival (Malaysia), SummerWorks (Canada) the San Francisco International Arts Festial, SoWat Now Contemporary Performance Festival, and Looking Left Festival in California, the SEEDS Festival and E|MERGE Residency at Earthdance Center, MA, and at danceh0l0 in Brooklyn.

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