Quotes by Twyla Tharp

About Twyla Tharp:

Twyla Tharp is 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.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Modern dancers should be doing things no one else is doing, and it should come from the gut.

Twyla Tharp

I had always seen myself as a star; I wanted to be a galaxy.

Twyla Tharp

My dancers expect me to deliver because my choreography represents their livelihood.

Twyla Tharp

I often say that in making dances I can make a world where I think things are done morally, done democratically, done honestly.

Twyla Tharp

Walt Disney was a master of the human psychology. His sense of timing, sense of speed. In a sense, those cartoons are like Rorschach tests.

Twyla Tharp

Dance is just like film in that it allows for thoughts in movement.

Twyla Tharp

Creativity is not just for artists. It's for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it's for engineers trying to solve a problem; it's for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.

Twyla Tharp

I don't hate language. I have my own language, but I also enjoy the English language. Obviously, you don't read a lot of literature and not care about language.

Twyla Tharp

It is extremely arrogant and very foolish to think that you can ever outwit your audience.

Twyla Tharp

I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.

Twyla Tharp

I don't think that scheduling is uncreative. I think that structure is required for creativity.

Twyla Tharp

I find that dancers are only well trained in ballet these days.

Twyla Tharp

You either entertain an audience or you don't.

Twyla Tharp

I've always felt compelled to explore range, because, as far as I know, we're only here once. So let's see how much we can encompass.

Twyla Tharp

Who a dancer is physically feeds into character for me. Always has.

Twyla Tharp

If I didn't believe in myself as a dancer, I wouldn't choreograph.

Twyla Tharp

My own physicality, not an abstract idea, makes me a choreographer.

Twyla Tharp

I see dance as glue for a community.

Twyla Tharp

Let me put it this way: I would like to direct a successful film. An unsuccessful film I would not like to direct. Films are very difficult.

Twyla Tharp

When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because it was just the flip side of being really successful.

Twyla Tharp

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.

Twyla Tharp

Author Bio

  • NameTwyla Tharp
  • DescriptionAmerican choreographer
  • BornJuly 1, 1941
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionChoreographer; Writer; Dancer
  • AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship; MacArthur Fellows Program; National Medal Of Arts; Emmy Award