“Strange, but cool.”

That’s a Jim quote from today’s workshop session.

Have you ever tried to explain MXTW to someone who had absolutely no idea what MXTW is? For some reason, it’s really hard and for me, I can never seem to find the right words that adequately express how wonderful it is. My explanation usually devolves into something along the lines of: You gotta see it to understand it.

MXTW is an experience. It is an experience for the workshop participants and for the audience. That experience will vary depending on what is happening, but that experience will undoubtedly be powerful. And it will be weird. It will be really, really weird. Today I had the experience of observing the workshop participants as they played and explored together the different ways they can feel tension, use that tension, and work together to deliver that tension to the audience.

I have been in the audience of MXTW performances, so it was not exactly a new experience for me, but it was new in that I have never had the opportunity to sit back and observe the magic that is the final performance be created, developed, harnessed, action verbs, etc.

MXTW is WEIRD.

As I was sitting there watching them be cats (the normal kind), then marionette cats, and then robot cats that began having robot cat malfunctions, I was struck by how weird it was. MXTW is WEIRD. The impact of mere body movements (OK they are not mere, they are calculated and precise movements) was amazing. I found myself having more feelings (food for thought: are emotions and feelings the same thing?) than I was having any kind of specific thoughts. At one point, a bathroom break was necessary and when I returned, they were doing… something… something that was cool. I had no idea what was going on, but I felt like I did. And I loved it!

At the end of the cat exercise, Gwethalyn seemed to be having similar thoughts/feelings. Referring to a specific moment that captivated her when the robot cats were malfunctioning, she said she felt like, “Something terrible is happening here, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

We played a lot of games today and it made me wanna move. I had to control the urge to jump up, run outside, and make shapes with the sounds surrounding me and I’m not even exaggerating. My notes literally say: I WANNA MOVE! & make shapes! & make my face a mask! & sustain movement!

To reiterate: GET UP AND MAKE A SHAPE!

They made their technique preference choices today. Next session, the target story will be decided. Everything is falling into place. We are nearing the end of the exploration stage, and soon will be entering the creation stage. Before we know it, it will be showtime and we hope to see you there!