Exit pursued by a bear / XL

How do you cram 45 years of experience as a dancer, choreographer, boss, and enfant terrible into a single performance?

Arthur Rosenfeld, in what he imagines might be his “final” performance, is looking for a way to let go of his past and focus on the future. He insists that this last performance be perfect, but can’t make up his mind about what that perfect end might be.

Supported by his ever-present partner Ana Teixidó, he invites various friends and colleagues to help him figure it out. This journey in search of himself takes him and the audience to places where no one, especially he, expected to go. Various uninvited guests show up for surprise appearances, making him a spectator in his own performance. The inevitable question looms large: who is Arthur anyway? Or rather, who has he been? Whatever the answer to that may be, it is clear that Arthur is not ready to leave the stage just yet.

Title
“Exit, pursued by a bear” is a famous stage direction from Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale. It is famous because nowhere else in the play is there any mention of a bear, which has led to endless speculation by scholars. Another handy coincidence is that in the old Scapino Ballet Arthur had to wear a bear costume in one of his first roles.

Arthur Rosenfeld
Arthur Rosenfeld has led a long and fruitful dance life, including plenty of missteps to learn from, and an extraordinary portion of good luck. Whether by coincidence or good karma, he found himself in the 1970’s and 80’s happily on the cutting edge of creativity, as a member of the first generation of dancers who created the Danstheater Wuppertal with Pina Bausch. He has collaborated and shared his life since 1986 with Ana Teixido, creating together with her an extensive personal body of work featuring themselves, and then, from 1993 on, a vast body of very successful work for young audiences. He was the artistic director of the very popular dance company Meekers from 1994 till 2012, and was the house choreographer and director of dance for Maas theater and dance from 2012 through 2016.