1947 – 2020
Marc Suess was a man of many names that represented the many and particular incarnations he underwent at different points in his life. He had a brilliant and creative mind and a huge heart for people, and the environment, and was inherently comfortable exploring the connections between the earthly and universal realms.
Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Marc arrived in BC in 1975. As with many people of his age, he sought new models on which he could pattern his life. This seeking spirit brought him and his wife to Salt Spring Island where he was part of building the Salt Spring Centre of yoga.
As part of the centre with like-minded people, he co-founded a theatre group, Centre Stage, which produced and hosted all kinds of art and performances for the island residents.
His next incarnation was in 1988 when he became Dancing Bear and founded the Dancing Bear Story Theatre. He became known for his 40 ft, multi-coloured, inflatable, patchwork whale he named Gaia Belle, which was in fact a portable theatre where Dancing Bear could perform original stories for children.
The Dancing Bear story theatre took his to schools and festivals around the province and soon he relocated with his family to Vancouver. He met an old friend at some community event who was a member of CAS. When he visited the co-op he immediately felt a connection with the community. Serendipity was his modus operandi, and he trusted in knowing that the Co-op was a place for the next chapter of his life.
What interested him most about community were the connections with like-minded people and/or anyone that enjoyed conversations about humanity and the divine. Always searching for a new question to answer, Dancing Bear had a vibrant inner life where he delved into the ordinary and the esoteric. Marc was the community’s philosopher, truly one of a kind. Marc was a deep thinker, weaving together beliefs from his Jewish heritage, Yogic thought and ideas from explorations into goddess culture, sacred geometry, and numerology.