Chameleon in Chemnitz
8 July 2025At the end of last month, Company Chameleon premiered two new performances in Chemnitz, Germany as part of the European Capital of Culture. Our Co-Artistic Director, Anthony, directed the project and tells us more.
1) Hey Anthony! Tell us what Chameleon has been doing in Chemnitz!
Last week, we premiered two new works in Chemnitz as part of their European Capital of Culture events, both based on chapters in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Many choreographers from across Europe had been invited to tackle a different chapter of the story in their own unique physical language.
I’d been asked to tackle four Chapters! The first, Cyclops, an outdoor work which was performed in front of the iconic Karl Marx statue in Chemnitz, and the final three chapters of the book – Eumaeus, Ithaka, Penelope, which performed on the Opera House stage, with dancers from Company Chameleon and the Chemnitz Ballet.
The production was a full day affair, starting early morning on the outskirts of the city, and gradually moving in to culminate on the stage of their Opera House.
2) How did the commission come about?
I’ve worked in Chemnitz for over a decade, presenting and creating several works. Well before Chemnitz submitted its application for the European Capital Of Culture, I’d been in dialogue with Sabrina Sadowska, Director of Chemnitz Ballet and Tanz Moderne festival as a trusted ally, to start planning for the events that would hopefully be developed.
3) What did the project involve?
The choreography for Cyclops – the first piece, which was an outdoor commission, involved four of our dancers and was created at our home studio in Openshaw, Manchester.
The challenge for this piece was making something that dealt with the subject in a way that was accessible for a family audience – not easy when the chapter focuses on a heated discussion about nationalism and prejudice!
The finalé, the final three chapters were not as straightforward to make, as the piece involved our dancers and 23 dancers from Chemnitz Ballet, who all performed together.
The process was a heady mix of scheduling jigsaws, creating with both sets of dancers in person and online, individually and collectively.
I flew out several times, organised live broadcast rehearsals from our studio, took our dancers out to create in their studio, sent many videos for their dancers to learn, and had dancers learn different roles so they could rehearse with others before meeting who they’d actually be dancing with.
We’ve been on a crazy schedule for a while, so the tender and moving final scene performed by dancers, Kadafi Mulula (Chameleon) and Principal Victoria Dorodna (Chemnitz) couldn’t be rehearsed together until a few days before the performance, and our dancers arrived tired and jet-lagged directly from Japan!
If it sounds complicated and a bit stressful, it was!
4) What were the highlights?
The new collaborative production is just spectacular to watch…..fingers crossed there will be further touring life for it!
It was a pleasure to see both companies share and learn from each other, and it was a pleasure to work with the ballet again and to see them step up to the challenge of moving in a way that’s really not the norm for them. It was a joy to watch our dancers throw themselves into morning ballet classes with them.
My highlight was undoubtedly sitting in the Opera House for the premiere, pretty exhausted, and watching my dancers absolutely nail it…..they were, and are quite simply superb, and it fills me with endless pride to see how far they’ve all come.
I remember each of them walking through our doors — where they were, both mentally and physically — and the years of commitment, determination, and drive that has brought them to where they are now.
I’m honoured to have been part of their story. It was also a philosophical moment for me personally, watching what will be my last creation for these guys before I move on from Company Chameleon. So I remembered to also give myself a pat on the back and tell myself well done.
Read more about the project on the Tanz Moderne website and explore the Chemnitz Capital of Culture here.
Photography: Nasser Hashemi
Project co-financed from the parliamentary budget of the state of Saxony, federal funds from the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media), as well as funds from the City of Chemnitz.