Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharpis an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966, she formed her own company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often utilizes classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDancer
Date of Birth1 July 1941
CityPortland, IN
CountryUnited States of America
failing
The more you fail in private, the less you will fail in public.
creative missing important
Failing, and learning from it, is necessary. Unil you've done it, you're missing an important piece of your creative arsenal.
teaching years able
I was privileged to be able to study a year with Martha Graham, the last year she was teaching.
ideas two littles
You don't have a really good idea until you combine two little ideas.
memories ancient wells
Every dance I make is a dive into this well of ancient memory.
memories inspiration way
There are as many forms of memory as there are ways of perceiving, and every one of them is worth mining for inspiration.
children mean dedication
The necessity to constantly turn in an excellent performance, to be absolutely wedded to this dedication and this ideal means that as a child you're going to pay for it personally.
piano dancing training
I started formal piano training when I was 4. From there I had little violas, and I had dancing lessons of every sort and description, and painting lessons. I had German. And shorthand.
years impact fit
I thought I had to make an impact on history. I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission. Posterity deals with us however it sees fit. But I gave it 20 years of my best shot.
dancing rewards different
The rewards of dancing are very different from choreographing.
education littles formal
The formal education that I received made little sense to me.
dancer modern should
Modern dancers should be doing things no one else is doing, and it should come from the gut..
order people creative
In order to be creative, you have to know how to prepare to be creative.....A lot of habitually creative people have preparation rituals linked to the setting in which they choose to start their day. By putting themselves into that environment, they begin their creative day.
important
I never studied with Balanchine, but his work was very important to me.