Quadrilogy On Urgency
"On urgency" is a performative methodology consisting in distributing written and oral surveys to ask people - and/or a specific target group - about their own urgencies and the urgencies of the place they live and subsequently ‘translate’ the reply into performative mediums, such as, theatrical and physical-theater narratives, music compositions, durational performances, dance sequences, visual poetry.
“On Urgency” is a process of research capable of being transposed to multiple locations and in contact with different communities, with the aim of embodying the urgencies of people and their environment and to articulate these urgencies in performative narratives.
Background
“On urgency” is the direct follow-up of the workshop and artistic practice The Urge of Being that Daniela Marcozzi developed during the Master of Arts in Artistic Research at the Physical Theater Academy Dimitri, Switzerland.
The Urge of Being is a theatrical/performative practice informed by recent biological and neuroscientific theories of emotions, feelings and embodiment, including Biochemistry of Emotions by C. Pert and the studies of A. Damasio. Its strongest theatrical influence is the research of J. Grotowski, which Daniela Marcozzi studied with Peter Rose, his former student.
The effects of the practices on artists showing that it creates a condition of urgency that consists in a state of physical, emotional, mental off-balance in which the performer negotiates his/her presence in dialogue with the external environment and that this connection allows the artistic experience to be perceived as authentic and non-representational. The practice leads the performers to access the realm of survival impulses and to transform this energy into a performative outcome. This condition is defined as Artistic Survival Mode.
Theatrical urgency Vs real urgency
Originally "On Urgency" was conceived by Daniela Marcozzi to respond with theatrical mediums to the urgent and drastic deterioration of the marine environment in her home region Abruzzo, along the Adriatic coast.
This project is envisioned as a “multiplier”, because it is a methodology of research capable of being transposed to multiple locations with the aim of embodying the urgencies of people and their environment and to articulate these urgencies in performative narratives.
This project was developed during the Master of Arts in Artistic Research that Marcozzi carried out at the Physical Theater Academy Dimitri, Switzerland (and as a PhD candidate at Zurich University of the Arts). “On Urgency” is currently supported by the Theater Expedition Metropolis, Berlin through Federal funding, as one of the main programs to research Community-Art poetic and political narratives in dialogue with the challenges of our society.
The theatrical methodology “On Urgency” has been further developed by the members Marcozzi Contemporary Theater through three initial projects: On Urgency (Berlin 2020), On Urgency*Nesting (Berlin Feb. - Sept. 2021), Sull’Urgenza (Abruzzo, IT- July 2021) and On urgency*Refo (Berlin, November 2021 - May 2022).
History
Berlin, June 2020
This pilot project aimed to research how our urges can push us to act, to react, to adapt ourselves through establishing an adaptive dialogue with what surrounds us.
At this link you can see the outcomes of the artistic research and residency period and at this link you can see the performance.
Berlin, June 2021
From February to June 2021, we'll conduct the research project "On urgency*nesting" in Berlin, funded by Expedition Metropolis Theatre, and aimed at exploring the inescapable relationship "person-environment".
Reply to the surveys here!
Città Sant'Angelo, Pianella (Pescara) and Pineto (Teramo) - Abruzzo, Italy - July 2021
EN: The methodology that we have created and developed in Berlin, with the support of the Theater Expedition Metropolis, for the first time travels out of the Berlin's border in July 2021!
IT: La metodologia che abbiamo creato e sviluppato a Berlino, con il supporto del Teatro Expedition Metropolis, per la prima volta viaggia fuori dal confine tedesco nel luglio 2021 e approda in Abruzzo, Italia, nei comuni di Città Sant'Angelo, Pianella (PE), Silvi e Pineto (TE).
Berlin, November 2021 - May 2022
It is a research project organized in collaboration with the art association pio_near and with the Reformation Kirche Moabit (REFO).
Since 2011, the Reformation Church in Berlin-Moabit has been designed and animated by the base-democratic community REFO at the intersection of spirituality, justice and art. The association "pio_near" is developing in the spaces of the REFO Campus a variety of residency formats, curating regular series and presenting performances.
On Urgency*REFO aims to investigate how the people who live in the Campus, what are the layers of memories, symbols, stories and urgencies that sustain the community and what drives the people and the spaces towards the future.
Through the survey, we investigate the relation between the people and the phsycial places.