Eve, the biblical-ancient female archetype, rises from her submissive, seduced silence; in protest against demonic violence. The first mother who witnessed one of her sons murdering the other, followed by a brutal bloodsong of millenniums, is cracking open like a split earth. Her prayer is a multitude of voices; streaming as fluid in the veins of mourning and resurrecting. Prayer as an action of deep-rooted trust, demanding a radical shift of vision and attention to repairing, healing and being joined in spirit. An undercurrent rising, rebelling and striving for life and aliveness, Flag of Eve emanates oneness as a message beyond difference; from our primary existence.

choreography and dance : Maya Matilda Carroll
costume: Maya Matilda Carroll
music: Roy Carroll (Field Recordings), Maya Matilda Carroll, Trio Harel, Fanny Mendelssohn
thanks: Maya Weinberg, Ziv Frenkel, Gabriele Schohl, Lea Barletti

premiere: Le COOPÉRATIVE CHORÉGRAPHIQUE, Caen, France 12 Sept, 2025


colleague and audience reviews

"To attend the show 'Flag of Eve' is to accept being immersed in the raw power of grief and the transcendence that accompanies it. Maya M. Carroll delivers a work of imagery, poetry, and depth, with the delicacy of a knife blade and the brutality of a dream. Throughout the performance, Maya takes us through a myriad of images as profound as they are powerful, into which we allow ourselves to be carried, accepting to be shaken to the core. The invocative power of her dance serves a message of grief and honest love from which we do not emerge unscathed. The Flag of Eve is the kind of show you see once in a lifetime, and which leaves a lasting impression. This solo is not only magnificent, but essential in the world we live in today" "
( - Marie Desoubeaux, choreographer and director of the platform Présomptions de Présences, France)

"Maya M. Carroll gives us a profound account of a woman's experience in the face of the absurdities and aberrations of violence (war, genocide, fratricide). She points out what we do not want to see. In a slow process, scene after scene, she takes us, with great tact and power, into the starkness of incomprehension, anger, pain, and mourning of a woman in a long silent cry—like a prayer. This must stop. We become respectful of this silence, of this sharing, appalled that what gave rise to this piece is still happening today. And the way this work affects us is not seductive. It is precise and profound. Flag Of Eve is a topical piece. It is based on the feelings and vision of an artist in our current world. And for that reason, it needs to be seen now. A profoundly simple piece, unvarnished and beautifully performed, which brings us together in an intimate place within ourselves."
( - Sophie Quénon, choreographer, dancer, performer)

"The most moving and honest daring self expression in movement of compassion and deep feeling for the other in the face of extreme violence I have ever witnessed. Words cannot express what I witnessed. Maya is a genius of the heart and a dancer of the soul."
(Thanasis Gadanidis, artist)

"A truly powerful performance that stays with you. Flag of Eve poses a tough question: how difficult is it to find peace within ourselves and, by extension, around us? Without answers, only with intensity and truth, it leaves us to face our inner conflicts. And perhaps that is why it stays with us."
(Afrodite Sartampakou)

"Flag of Eve is a performance that does not fade once it ends; it lingers in the body and the mind long afterward. Maya Matilda Carroll delivers a work of striking physical clarity and emotional force; her presence on stage is precise, committed, and unflinching, as if movement itself is remembering, grieving, and resisting through her body.

A white flag, far more than an object, becomes an extension of the body — at times fragile, at times defiant, at times almost unbearable in its symbolism. Through it, Maya creates strong, lasting images that oscillate between surrender and resistance, silence and uprising.

At the heart of the work lies the female archetype: Eve, the mother, the witness. Carroll places this archetype firmly at the center of the performance, weaving together something ancient and urgently contemporary. History, grief, violence, tenderness and survival coexist in her physical language.

The performance does not shy away from brutality or vulnerability. Certain moments are difficult to digest — raw, unsettling, and confronting — yet they feel integral rather than gratuitous. The work demands presence from the audience, refusing comfort and insisting on attention. An act of insistence on truth, on embodiment, on the female body as a site of memory.

In the final images, Carroll evokes figures of resistance and sacrifice — recalling Joan of Arc or a freedom fighter — carrying the weight of history while asserting fierce aliveness. These closing moments resonate as both mourning and defiance.

Flag of Eve leaves a lasting impact, not only as a performance but as a provocation. It challenges how we perceive the female body, the role of women across history, and our own position in relation to violence, care, and survival. Carroll’s courage, rigor, and refusal to turn away from what is difficult make this work unforgettable."
(Kathrin Wintermeyer)

photo credit: Uri Rubinstein