GPL
Groove Performance Lab
Beyond the narrative of the five senses
Performance Lab by Marcozzi Contemporary Theater (MCT)
facilitated by Daniela Marcozzi and with the assistance of Ilaria Di Maio
Research module on sensorial experience
WHEN
Every Thursday, 6:45-9:45 pm
From Oct. 31 till Dec. 18th 2025
plus intensive session on Saturday 13th, 2-7pm
LOCATION
Hotel Continental
Elsenstraße 87, 12435 Berlin
Marcozzi Contemporary Theater is thrilled to announce the new edition of the GPL for the Fall 2025 Season in Berlin!
The GPL program integrates physical theater, movement research, dance, embodiment techniques and vocal training.
A large part of the artistic work that Daniela Marcozzi has been developing in Berlin and across Europe originates from The Urge of Being practice. This approach, created by Daniela herself, draws strong inspiration from the research of Jerzy Grotowski—especially the Plastique Sequence and body-voice training—as transmitted to her by Peter Rose, a former student of Grotowski.
Alongside her artistic practice, Daniela—who is also a former environmental biologist—has a deep interest in biology and ecology. For several years, she has been organizing artistic expeditions in natural environments and research projects in direct contact with nature.
MCT has been organizing the GPL since 2016
Each year the journey and the group are unique and original! For this edition, our intention is to gather a group of performers who are already familiar with the work and poetics of MCT—those who have already taken part in workshops, courses, or other projects and/or people with performance experience.
Our vision for 2025–2026
is to form a motivated and experienced group of performers.
Before the end of the first module, we’ll decide together—with those who are interested—whether to organize an additional GPL module and/or a final performance during the course of 2026.
This is also a moment for the performers to understand whether they are ready to commit to a performance that will require intense physical and mental presence during the last weeks.
An informal selection will be made during the registration process, as spots are limited.
Research Module:
Beyond the Narrative of the Five Senses
This research module invites participants to explore human perception beyond the traditional five senses. The five senses are often described as windows through which information enters from the outside world and is processed by the body. While this model is not incorrect, it may be limiting. We don't just receive the world—we exist within it, through it. We are not separate from our environment but are part of an energetic web we rarely perceive in its richness.
Our Western worldview tends to fragment experience:
body vs. mind, self vs. others, science vs. art, human vs. nature.
In this research module, we’ll explore the spaces in between these dualities—where mystery, co-existence, and new sensitivities emerge.
Could there be more than five senses? Have you ever felt the urge to name a perception that doesn’t fit the standard categories—something poetic, intuitive, or subtle that resists definition? In the GPL, we aim to recognize, express, and give artistic form to these unnamed sensations.
Have you ever heard of the sense of current? The sense of form? Senso poetico? Sense of urge?
These are just a few of the perceptions Daniela Marcozzi has been exploring in recent years—emerging from research that bridges art and nature.
For this research, we will take inspiration from the natural world.
We’ll study the Umwelt of other animal species (how other species make sense of the world). Ilaria Di Maio has previously supported this exploration during sessions at TanFabrik and will assist also this GPL module.
Each session will end with improvisations rooted in the sensory work.
The Political Value of Sensory Exploration
This work is not only artistic but also deeply political and ecological. Our senses guide our choices, actions, and ways of being in the world. A body more aware of its perceptions is also more aware of how it is shaped—or manipulated—by its environment.
In a time of rapid ecological, social, and political change, we may need to develop new ways of perceiving and understanding the world—narratives that begin in the body and its real, felt relationship to the forces around it.
In this context, being conscious of our perception is a revolutionary act.
Calendar 2025
30 October
6, 13, 20, 27 November
11, 13 (14:00-19:00), 18 December
Every Thursday, 18:45 - 21:45 (except 13.12, from 14:00-19:00)
Cost
The cost of the GPL (Oct - Dec) is 300 Euro
To register, please transfer 150 euro by Sept. 15th.
The remaining 150 Euro can be transferred by October 30th.
DONOR PRICE: from 300 Euro.
If you want to support this project and the work of MCT, please donate.
Payment and cancellation policy of MCT:
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The policy of payment of Marcozzi Contemporary Theater is inclusive: please, if you have economical issues but you still want to work with us, let us know.
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Reimburse of the module is not possible. In case of request, we’ll consider it case by case.
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It’s possible to do a trial session for 30 euro.
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Absences: in November or December we’ll offer a free session from 18:00 to 20:00 to give the possibility to recuperate eventual absences. The exact date will be communicated later.
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You wanna support this work? Please donate! Marcozzi Contemporary Theater is completely an independent project.
Contact and registration
For info and registration please write to: groove.performancelab@gmail.com.
Please write a bit about yourself, about your motivation to participate in the GPL, your experiences, your artistic interests and urgencies, and if you have already encountered the work of MCT in the past.
For further questions, you can reach Daniela Marcozzi on whatsapp: +39 351 8867010.
