On stage, a body immersed in a constant stream of information. On stage, a radical exposure to hyperstimulation.
On stage – and in reality – a social performer.
On stage, a human being caught in the act of living the present. On stage, a great effort.
GOOD VIBES ONLY (the great effort) is an infinite scrolling both performed and endured by a human being—an inevitable performer. It is the relentless flow of countless pieces of information imprinted onto a single body. A battlefield between the visceral and the virtual, between the raw materiality of flesh and the weightless fluidity of data. It is the unexpected emergence of the human element – the “non-performative” – surfacing by accident in the gaps of the choreographic mechanism.
GOOD VIBES ONLY (the great effort) is a performative investigation that responds to the following questions: What happens if the entire flow of information we are exposed to daily is poured, relentlessly, onto a single body? What if one individual had to embody and personify the standards dictated by the constant interconnection and over-performativity of the present?
The choreographic materials unfold without pause and are selected live from an archive built around the concept of the trend or, more broadly, the catchphrase: viral dances, iconic fragments from the history of dance, choreographic sequences disseminated through media and social networks that have become symbols of a shared visual culture.
The incessant layering of these contents generates an unstable, ever-moving catalogue-body—a surface that scrolls and is scrolled, that absorbs and reflects the dynamics of contemporary dominant representation. The latter, mirroring the hegemonic and normative gaze, is embodied on stage by a panoptic, algorithmic entity that exerts control over the performer’s body, onto which the constant demands for conformity and performance are ceaselessly projected.
GOOD VIBES ONLY (the great effort) is the second chapter of the GOOD VIBES ONLY trilogy, a project that investigates the act of scrolling through the body. An automatic, repetitive, obsessive gesture performed hundreds of times a day. A seemingly simple, minimal movement that in its quiet relentlessness unravels profound existential, political, sociological, and ethical questions about the contemporary world.
Francesca Santamaria is an artist active in the field of Performing Arts. Her research focuses on performance logic, using the moving body and its limits to explore and reflect on the concept of being performative. Her creative journey began in 2021 with the creation of SHIFTING TOOLS, a videodance piece presented and awarded at numerous international festivals. In 2022, she joined the three-year choreographic research program Incubatore per futur_ coreograf_ CIMD. She made her debut as a creator in 2024 with COME SOPRAVVIVERE IN CASO DI DANNI PERMANENTI, co-produced by the Operaestate Festival. At the Milanese hub, she worked on the ideation and creation of the GOOD VIBES ONLY trilogy. Following her selection for Incubatore 2024, the first chapter of the trilogy, GOOD VIBES ONLY (beta test), was co-produced by the MILANoLTRE, Più che Danza, and FDE Festival Danza Estate. She is currently working on GOOD VIBES ONLY (the great effort), the second chapter of the trilogy. Her works have been presented in contexts such as Vetrina della giovane danza d’autore 2023, Romaeuropa Festival, Contemporanea Festival, B.Motion – Operaestate, MILANoLTRE, and Danza in Rete. Over the years, she has collaborated with various artists from the theater and performance scene, including Pietro Angelini, Vittorio Pagani, FanniBanni’s, UCCI UCCI, and VEGA. These collaborations have led to projects that have been awarded and presented in prestigious cultural venues such as Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria, and Biennale College Teatro. Simultaneously, she graduated from Sapienza University of Rome in Performing Arts with a master’s thesis on dance dramaturgy, and took part in several projects with the ASAC of the Venice Biennale from 2021 to 2023.
concept and performance Francesca Santamaria
with the participation of Juan Claudio Averoff Rico aka Ramingo dramaturgical collaboration Pietro Angelini
sound dramaturgy and live set Ramingo
lighting Fabrizio Cicero
styling Elena Luca
costume design Vittorio Gargiuolo
movement coaching Beatrice Pozzi
technical direction Giovanni Di Capua
project collaboration Rossella Piazzese
production CODEDUOMO ETS / Perypezye Urbane ETS co-produced with Romaeuropa Festival
Vittorio Gargiuolo
movement coaching Beatrice Pozzi
in collaboration with TIR Danza
with the contribution of Operaestate Festival Veneto, ATCL / Spazio Rossellini, Centro di Residenza della Toscana (Fondazione Armunia Castiglioncello – CapoTrave/Kilowatt Sansepolcro)
with the support of Fondazione Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza / Danza in Rete, Incubatore per futur_ coreograf_ CIMD 22/24
artistic residency DAS – Dispositivo Arti Sperimentali, Fondazione Armunia, Fondazione Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza, Live Arts Cultures
production residency Carrozzerie | n.o.t, Ferrara Off Teatro
special thanks to Balletto di Roma
