Lara Zammit speaks to the Portuguese choreographer Tânia Carvalho about the Homeric inspiration behind her acclaimed work of contemporary dance. 

Weaving Chaos, a contemporary dance performance with 12 dancers, is inspired by Homer’s Odyssey – the ancient Greek epic an everlasting grip on our collective imaginations.

Working with the Portuguese choreographer Tânia Carvalho, one of Europe’s most important choreographers today, ŻfinMalta’s company dancers are set to perform the highly acclaimed work Weaving Chaos on Teatru Manoel’s stage this December.

Homer’s Odyssey is the driving force behind this piece, which summons its dancers to interpret the stubbornness, pain and will of the epic hero Ulysses as he returns home.

Carvalho, whose career as a choreographer spans over 20 years, devised the dance to fluctuate between a display of individual character and the dancers’ presence or dissolution in a collective. The performance centres on a tireless search for movement.

The choreography summons its dancers to interpret the stubbornness, pain and will of the epic hero Odysseus returning home.

Speaking to Times of Malta about how she drew inspiration from Homer’s Odyssey for her choreography, Carvalho said that what she found most striking was the different ambiences one encounters while reading through the work. “The imaginary, the persistence, the time, the personification of the elements, the creatures… There were so many striking elements, I can’t possibly choose one,” she expressed.

“I created the piece with the images and emotions the book gave to me while reading. I used this idea of persistence a lot – the idea of not quitting. I used it as a comparison with the dancers, who repeat the same movements over and over again in order to improve all the time.”

Classical ballet is also a strong element within the composition. Asked what movements she found most inhabit the spirt of the Odyssey story and how she went about creating the choreography for Weaving Chaos, Carvalho said that she used her body as her starting point.

The performance centres on a tireless search for movement

“I started with my own body. I wanted to use romantic ballet movements, not exactly as in romantic ballet but how my body remembers it, physically and emotionally. I wanted to pretend I was an old dancer that repeated the same movements over and over again in order to reach perfection. Now with the elder body, technically the movements are not so ‘perfect’, but the intention is stronger because you have as if the soul of the movement is unscripted in the body. As for the Odyssey, these people try to reach home.

“First, they are strong, and they fight to go back home. The more the years pass, the more they get tired, and in fact, they only arrive home when they are really tired and lost.

“I picked up the main moments of the story and created a scene for each, after which I mixed them all up so as not to have a linear narrative but instead more like an emotional travel.

The piece involves 12 dancers and is inspired by Homer’s Odyssey.

“The characters are not represented by one dancer each. The dancers represent all the characters, the gods, the sea, the wind. I tried to create the piece in such a way that the dancers can be many things at the same time,” she said.

Carvalho went on to note that her experience of bringing this choreography to Malta under the national dance company ŻfinMalta was a very memorable one. 

“It has been an incredible experience. The company is grabbing the piece so well. I’m impressed and so happy they invited me,” she exclaimed.

Weaving Chaos, produced by ŻfinMalta, will take place at the Manoel Theatre from December 3-5. The production is supported by the Embassy of Portugal in Rome and Camões I.P. For tickets and more information, visit zfinmalta.org.