I return to writing practice with this diary, personal but public, and this is already, for me, a great novelty as well as most of the colors, smells, presences and poetic stimuli that make up the work that has just begun in La Alberca. I can therefore basically summarize some positive impressions in the following text. The practice of writing a diary puts me on another level of thought, probably very different from writing projects where I must always keep in mind that the contents must necessarily be in a logical system and in a logical framework aimed at never losing of view of the objectives, at various levels, and many other issues. In this case I am talking about my impressions and I can easily admit the difficulty, but above all the deliberate “non-necessity”, of seeking a purely design meaning. Furthermore, I am pleasantly surprised at how undeterred I continue to be, after so many years, still faithfully tied to a political idea of artistic intervention. Interculture, the basis of my studies and my life, and art, basis of my life and my musical studies, continue to intersect and surprise me despite the great work of technical and logical speculation that I necessarily had to build on it above. Thus, this group of people from Iran, Albania, Spain, Greece, Poland, Finland, Italy become main actors and main actresses of a “thought” that has become a project and is becoming reality! I can say that I’m pleasantly surprised at how much this continues to excite me. I return to a sensitive dimension, perhaps for this reason I have a constant smile and joyful eyes stamped on my face even in some critical moments. I worked so hard to make this project come true, from design to organization: seeing it come true can make me very happy. At the same time, I find it necessary to continue to be extremely serious and focused, which is a condition that I sometimes go too far in pursuing and maintaining because it is often a cage, it is necessary to work on that too. The Residence is made up of some dynamics that are not new to me, but since people are new people, each one different from the other, it is always necessary to consider that every choice has a consequence, for better or for worse, and that this consequence must be addressed to structuring of the work and, obviously, in my opinion, also in line with my personal idea of an authentic relationship, always for better or for worse.
I am happy to have sensitive people around me. I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s stories, knowing that the doors in front of the hostel where we stay represent the door through which the newlyweds enter and the door through which the dead come out, I really enjoyed witnessing Ermelinda’s surprise at seeing the flying owls, or helping an actress to be able to eat something vegan. The naturalistic context is so much present that it is “naturally” an essential actor of the project. Also the idea of doing the training work inside the nature museum of La Alberca, surrounded by greenery, being in a place where the sound of leaves and branches blowing in the wind, having a tireless sun that never sets, it reminds me of my home, where one of the most beautiful things is feeling loved by the sun and feeling in connection with what exists, it reminds me how lucky we are to be able to work so hard on this. David’s care and willingness to speak Italian, to learn and always be very helpful and supportive of the group reminds me myself few years ago. Lewis’s emotion in telling himself and sharing his will, his desire for the Residence, I think is also a decisive moment of the day, a passage made possible by Fabio’s very right choice to involve all the participants and to define some substantial points of the work from all points of view. Astràgali’s work is very complex, I hope that this complexity is perceived by everyone as soon as possible. There is a substantial propensity towards the “other” and, due to professional deformation, I can only think that this modality can only be one of the objectives of the project.
Pierluigi Greco
The work proceeds with some decidedly interesting ideas: one of these is undoubtedly the question of washing the body of the dead accompanied by the moroloja. The idea that rhythm was a founding element of Greek tragedy and that it has been transmitted over time, crossing the centuries and remaining one of the main elements even in the cultural layers that have superimposed one on top of the other, is in my eyes something extraordinarily interesting. As Fabio has taught us, rhythm is an essential element in achieving a modified state of consciousness. The moroloja, the prayer of the Jews, the Sufis and the rhythm, place me in a condition of extreme curiosity and also in the need to give answers to further questions: why does repetition cause this state of things? Why has it been so important over the centuries? How did they transmit it without changing its essence? Were they aware of all this? The questions are superimposed on the sound and visual impressions of the return from the probable place where the performance will take place, which we arrived at through a long walk, silent, at least for the most part, through La Alberca and in the park adjacent to the city. Walking in the woods: an act so natural as to be completely out of any contemporary logic. He reminded me how falsely unable I am to stop the car on the old road to San Cataldo and walk home. For the past year, I’ve promised myself that every day. Walking puts me in a dimension of slow reflection and observation, a dimension very far from what I’m used to. I like feeling the complexity of the forest and observing the landscapes, the wide open spaces, the places where thought gets lost and can’t help but be moved by the grandeur and majesty of its complexity. The moment of silence reminded me that there are also little things, little details, and that the universe is in everything, in every unit of measurement. These thoughts had space because a space was given to me: worries have become work and work has rhythms within which it is necessary to dedicate moments to thought, to look, to curiosity. Everything reminds me of rhythm and its irrational mathematics, which must be why I’m so fond of it.
Pierluigi Greco
Flexibility is the way. They taught me at home, I had a great example in Astragali, around the world and certainly in Baghdad: what you have objectively is possible if you really want it. Do we really want it or not? A day full of complexity, a day of work. Real work is complex work, not mechanical and alienating work, work is like life, difficult and beautiful at the same time. At least in my opinion. Everything revolves around the multi-level objectives of creating something complex. We try and we succeed. End. There aren’t alternatives, only success. The only problem is that beautiful uphill road that reminds me how much physical effort is necessary. I laugh about it, a bit like always, despite my apparent serious face. Steepness is a metaphor, randomness a condition, flexibility a method, performance the goal.
Pierluigi Greco
A crazy day: everything can go in the opposite direction to how it was planned, the program is like Matteo’s horoscope: iIvano tells me that I have to stay calm and keep the situation under control, at the same time he reminds me that this job Astragali has been doing it for 30 years and that everything will turn out for the best, just stay objective and be creative at the same time. We are a close-knit group that seeks solutions so much that it often finds them, with great effort and a lot of work but also a lot of strategy and intelligence. The conditions made me yearn for the presence of my Father, Ivano, Cosimo, Sandrone, people who in the face of difficulties do not stop for anything in the world. They only stop if it’s really not worth it, i.e. the result isn’t worth the effort. I think that this stress can be the fire of art, it puts us in front of the question: do we do it or don’t we do all this? This is life: we cry, we laugh, we despair, we succeed and we fail and then we start again. The convenience of “everything ready”: the ready meal, the holiday package, the organized tour, the fixed menu, the show with the script in hand. This is adventure and adventure needs the fire of the exercise of truth. Today I saw laughing, crying, screaming, shouting very loudly, throwing water at each other, carrying two 7-litre cans of water like via crucis on the uphill road, whispering and insulting each other. I have seen so much and yet I have seen nothing. We are human beings that perhaps we are rediscovering in many ways which means relating again, meeting and having a common project: “Antigone’s Cantica”. I couldn’t wish for better.
Pierluigi Greco
See how this little snake sways, see how this little black wave goes up and down. The idea of an empty street is the idea of letting go, of letting go, it is the idea of abandoning the idea itself. Nature takes over in her flesh, in her concrete, in her great act of life and death. At the same time, the sunset at ten o’clock in the evening, behind the clouds, is still surprising. I enjoy all of this. I have the opportunity to do it again, working for each other, for others. As Afshin says: “mohabbat”. Perhaps. In any case, Wednesday 26 April is also a day linked to the search for beauty. Theater production is an equally complicated job. Coordinating burning minds or coping with stress is just as tricky. But I can’t stop. This road between Salamanca and La Alberca fills me with darkness and fills me with desire, with ambition.I looked for the objects in a museum of the house, of the house of the people of La Alberca, I found objects that have an inestimable value because they have been used and probably treated as precious objects in this very poor and rich place. The owner lent us his son’s Spanish army military jacket. Salamanca has been equally generous, cordial people, people who accompany the research and perhaps facilitate it. I strongly believe in this hospitality. A Turkish man who speaks Spanish and who does everything to guide us inside the difficulties and find a solution for a show that he won’t see, screaming and running with his car on the path of eagles and vultures. Each person here makes up a heterogeneous group of men and women who through their surreal presence are so silent as to be very noisy, perhaps. Theater involves and at the same time turns lives upside down. Seeing the groups that make up the group sometimes annoyed, sometimes in trouble, sometimes at odds, sometimes stressed, sometimes lost in the forest, sometimes curious about the dark and danger, sometimes lost in worry and care, for me is an act of truth and authenticity. Have we forgotten? Each of us is giving everything for the final demonstration and this process is already a great show.
Pierluigi Greco
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