Voyages of Aeneas: Choga

Through music, dance, masks, digital imagery and experimental music theater, this project depicts the mythical travels of Aeneas, extending his search for a new home. The production connects Aeneas and his Choga to the notion of a dwelling, a home, a safe haven in a world of chaos… a place to discover… to rediscover and orient one’s self to an emerging new world. The Aeneas Project, which our group initiated two years ago, explores the meaning of Aeneas as a universal, multicultural, multi-religion and multi-racial figure.

After the destruction of Troy, Aeneas wanders homeless in search of himself. In his wanderings he must undergo a journey to the underworld, as did Orpheus and others who had gone before. While in the underworld, he consults his father Anchises, who gives him a vision of the future. In this vision, he witnesses the ravages of 20th century wars and the collapse of the Twin Towers - a testament that the future brings more cruelty and destruction. His pain and sorrow catapults him inside the vision and into the 21st century where he wanders disillusioned, encountering a fierce storm that eventually brings him to Chosun (Korea), the land of calm. There Aeneas finds a Choga, which in Korean refers to a small primitive dwelling with a thatched roof.