This post is a response to Cathy Davidson's mention of Twitter and microblogging at MLA by way of a contemporary performing arts curiosity that I came across (at this blog about dance and film-- it must be the only one like it.) Despite the fact that I've previously kept a Twitter feed of my cat while my partner is traveling, I feel obliged to confess a certain prejudice against Twitter, and moreover, its expressive possibilities. I haven't reflected upon any arguments to support my anti-Twitter bias, but I suspect its form is intrinsically narcissistic-- not that that's wholly bad-- in a way that doesn't lend itself to the rethinking of presence in a way that equals the promise of the digital.

However... as pointed out in Cathy's post, might Twitter be useful as a parodic form, one not so different from previous literary forms? Could Dangerous Liaisons, for example, (a novel I love), be composed or staged entirely via Twitter? Here's what was reported from MLA:

"Another panelist looked at Twitter as a literary form and asked why we wouldn?t consider it that if we can be thinking of seventeenth-century broadsides or medieval tomb epigraphs as potentially literary forms worthy of study not only for the historical information they convey but for the forms of expression that they allow. From Twitter?s haiku linguistic forms to its asymmetry of follower and following to its potential for Rickrolling (always a high art form!), it has genre qualities that are worth thinking about not only in their own right but for what they illuminate about other forms."

As predisposed to dismiss Twitter, I would have paid this observation little heed were it not for the novelty of a performance currently being "hosted" by PS122 in New York (a major downtown theatre) by a New York-based choreographer, Yanira Castro. The performance, "Dark Horse/Black Forest" may be arranged via PS122 to take place in your bathroom, and moreover, it has created two characters who have Twitter feeds (available on the company website on the link above). At the very least, it's worth a look as an example of a young artist's attempt to make use of a social convention that's become prevalent in her milieu.