Professional Lineage

1976: Twyla Tharp had choreographed Push Comes to Shove 
for Mikhail Baryshnikov and the American Ballet Theatre.

"In the end, all collaborations are love stories."

-Twyla Tharp

Tharp's training began with ballet, not to mention baton twirling and musical instruments.  As Tharp went on to college to pursue a degree in art history, she kept her passion for dance by taking classes outside of school.  While in New York City, Tharp was able to study at the American Ballet Theatre school, and study with some of the most influential masters of modern dance such as Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Erik Hawkins, and Merce Cunningham.  When she graduated from Barnard College in 1963, she knew that she wanted to make dance her career.  Twyla Tharp joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company shortly after her college graduation, but cutting her experience in the company short to create her own dance company, the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, two years later.  The company, comprising of five women with the eventual add in of two men, worked non-stop for five consecutive years.  The company took every performance opportunity they could and even toured around the world, but would earn little or no money for their work.

(Tharp performing Re-Moves)

In 1975, Tharp choreographed her first work Tank Dive.  Later, she went on to choreograph Deuce Coupe for the Joffrey Ballet and then Push Comes to Shove for Mikhail Baryshnikov and the dancers of the American Ballet Theatre.  Tharp has since choreographed for: Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance, and Martha Graham Dance Company.  She also created a show called Cutting Up with Mikhail Baryshnikov.  In 2012, Tharp created the full-length ballet The Princess and the Goblin based off of George McDonald's story The Princess and the Goblin.  She was the first Artist in Residency at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.  And of course, Tharp is known for branching into Broadway.  She choreographed The Catherine Wheel, in collaboration with David Byrne, Singing in the Rain, Movin' Out, The Times They Are a-Changing, and Come Fly Away.  Not only branch into Broadway, she choreographed for movies and television as well.  Her prime acknowledgements and for the television musical Hair, and Amadeus.

(Twyla Tharp and David Byrne)

Twyla Tharp mostly worked on her own and rarely in collaboration.  She did, however, work a lot with Mikhail Baryshnikov.  She began choreographing for him in 1976 in Push Comes to Shove.  She also directed Baryshnikov by Tharp where Baryshnikov dances the roles he originated in The Little Ballet, Sinatra Suite, and Push Comes to Shove. Tharp also collaborated with David Byrne, a musician, to work on The Catherine Wheel.

(Baryshnikov, Tharp, Tcherkassky rehearsing Push Comes to Shove)

In the film, Dancing, Tharp mentions that if she wanted to dance, she had to make her own dances because no one could tolerate her and she really wanted to dance, her body needed it.  She knew that she wanted to be the best choreographer of her time.  Tharp is known for her ability to cross balletic boundaries.  Putting together a dance for her was about seeing where the dance was, and pushing its boundaries.  She was able to melt classical ballet and modern dance with avant-garde Broadway pizzazz.  She joined Judson Dance Theater and began creating a series of anti-theatrical pieces.  She left the city for a while, and when she came back, she ditched the countercultural aesthetic and delved into popular and commercial culture.  As the Judson choreographers (Yvonne Rainer manifesto) would say 'no' to style, virtuosity, and would strip dance of its theatricality, technique, and expressiveness, Tharp would change those nos to yeses.  Tharp's phrases would incorporate ballroom, jazz, aerobics, boogie, and physical twists and punches.  Her movement was eclectic to say the least.  She began to be acknowledged for her breezy style.  She would call her technique 'stuffing' movement phrases.  She also was influenced by much of her music choices, such as the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, etc.

To conclude, I will leave this quote, by Twyla Tharp.  "A lot of people insisted on a wall between modern dance and ballet.  I'm beginning to think that walls are very unhealthy things."

Works Cited

“Baryshnikov By Tharp.” Baryshnikov By Tharp | Twyla Tharp, 5 Oct. 1984, www.twylatharp.org/content/baryshnikov-tharp.

“Dancing.” Vimeo, 2013, vimeo.com/66176216.

Roy, Sanjoy. “Step-by-Step Guide to Dance: Twyla Tharp | Sanjoy Roy.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Feb. 2011, www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/feb/01/step-by-step-twyla-tharp-dance.

“Twyla Tharp.” 100 Treasures - Twyla Tharp, www.danceheritage.org/tharp.html.

“Twyla Tharp.” Academy of Achievement, www.achievement.org/achiever/twyla-tharp/#biography.

“TWYLA THARP; a Pioneer of Modern Dance.” Prezi.com, 10 Sept. 2013, prezi.com/h9k0otawtfj-/twyla-tharp-a-pioneer-of-modern-dance/.

“Twyla Tharp > Quotes.” Twyla Tharp Quotes (Author of The Creative Habit), www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/148884.Twyla_Tharp.