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
skills retiring pursue
Just when you arrive at the apex of your skills, it's time to retire. But as it turned out, I decided that since it was the thing that I felt I did best, I owed it to all that be to pursue it.
athlete men want
Men and women are very different athletes, and frankly, I didn't want to deal with the male potential.
happiness art laughter
I learned very early that an audience would relax and look at things differently if they felt they could laugh with you from time to time. There's an energy that comes through the release of tension that is laughter.
earth likes faces
Nobody likes to see that which they've invested in disappear from the face of the earth before they've even died. This is not cool. We can now see what the landmarks are.
hero done outsiders
The notion of the hero as outsider, as alien, is forget it, over, done with. It's not about being against society anymore. It's about standing there, holding something up. It's not pulling away.
children years dancing
The way I enjoyed spending time most was dancing. That's from the time I was a very small child, When I was 4 or 5 years old, I remember already having a regime. It was the way I always identified myself.
appreciate access
There really is nothing I ever had access to that I didn't appreciate.
order people special
When I'm in the studio, when I'm warm, when I'm what people call improvising, I feel a very special connection. I feel the most right. I don't want to become too mystic about this, but things feel as though they're in the best order at that particular moment.
emotional breathing space
In the future, I will make certain that I commit to projects so there's enough breathing space for me to have an emotional life.
wall college years
I've always had to keep the walls in place, and the only way to do that is to keep yourself constantly occupied. From the time I was 8 years old, until I went to college, I worked. There was no social life.
soul emotion comedy
Any comic is a tragic soul. Comedy is one of the things that allows one to survive. Particularly if one has been in the process of separating off the emotions, it's one place you can process them.
dance easy easy-life
Dance has never been a particularly easy life, and everybody knows that.
dance thinking dancing
I often say that in making dances I can make a world where I think things are done morally, done democratically, done honestly.
dancer becoming enough
I was interested in becoming a show dancer, for which I tried, but I'm not tall enough.