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“On Urgency” is a performative methodology that consists of distributing written and oral surveys to ask people – and/or a specific target group – about their own urgencies and the urgencies of the place where they live, to then “translate” the answers into performative means, such as theatrical and physical theater narratives, musical compositions, long-durational performances, dance sequences, and visual poetry.

The research process of “On Urgency” can be transposed into multiple locations and into contact with different communities, with the aim of embodying the urgencies of people and their environment, and articulating these urgencies into performative narratives.

Background

“On Urgency” is the direct sequel to the workshop and artistic practice The Urge of Being, which Daniela Marcozzi developed during her Master of Arts in Artistic Research at the Accademia di Teatro Fisico Dimitri in Switzerland. The Urge of Being is a theatrical/performative practice informed by recent biological and neuroscientific theories on emotions, feelings, and embodiment, including C. Pert’s Biochemistry of Emotions and A. Damasio’s studies. Its strongest theatrical influence is the research of J. Grotowski, which Daniela Marcozzi studied with Peter Rose, his former student.

The effects of these practices on the artists show that they create a condition of urgency consisting of a physical, emotional, and mental state of being off-balance, where the performer negotiates their presence in dialogue with the external environment; this connection allows the artistic experience to be perceived as authentic and non-representative. The practice leads performers to access the realm of survival impulses and to transform this energy into a performative outcome. This condition is defined as the Artistic Survival Mode.

Theathrical vs Real Urgency

“On Urgency” was originally conceived by Daniela Marcozzi to respond through theatrical means to the urgent and drastic deterioration of the marine environment in her home region, Abruzzo, along the Adriatic coast. This project is designed as a “multiplier,” as it is a research methodology capable of being transposed into multiple locations, with the aim of embodying the urgencies of people and their environment, and articulating these urgencies into performative narratives. The project was developed during the Master of Arts in Artistic Research that Marcozzi completed at the Accademia di Teatro Fisico Dimitri in Switzerland (and as a PhD candidate at the Zurich University of the Arts). “On Urgency” is currently supported by the Theater Expedition Metropolis in Berlin through federal funding, as one of the main programs for researching poetic and political narratives of Community-Art in dialogue with the challenges of our society.

The “On Urgency” theatrical methodology was further developed by the members of the Marcozzi Contemporary Theater through three initial projects: On Urgency (Berlin 2020), On UrgencyNesting (Berlin Feb. – Sept. 2021), Sull’Urgenza (Abruzzo, IT – July 2021), and On urgencyRefo (Berlin, November 2021 – May 2022).