Quote

I also had a will that let me eliminate everything that stood in the way of my becoming the best dancer I could be. By a gradual process... (I) had invested every bit of my dreams, my hopes, my energies in defining myself as a dancer.

Twyla Tharp

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Twyla Tharp
Age: 83
Born: 1941
Born: July 1
Ballet Dancer
Choreographer
Dancer
Writer
Portland
Indiana
Dream
Dancer
Also
Hopes
Best
Dance
Gradual
Everything
Dreams
Invested
Every
Becoming
Energies
Way
Bits
Eliminate
Process
Defining
Energy
Stood

More quotes by Twyla Tharp

Image
You double your intensity with skill.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I have learned over the years that you should never save for two meetings what you can accomplish in one.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Ultimately there is no such thing as failure. There are lessons learned in different ways.
Twyla Tharp
Image
There are as many forms of memory as there are ways of perceiving, and every one of them is worth mining for inspiration.
Twyla Tharp
Image
My greatest fear in working is always the end. Lately I have taken to tricking myself into finishing by leaving a hole in the middle somewhere, then stitching the two pieces together - the Union Pacific approach.
Twyla Tharp
Image
The first steps of a creative act are like groping in the dark: random and chaotic, feverish and fearful, a lot of busy-ness with no apparent or definable end in sight.
Twyla Tharp
Image
My mother was a dominant force in my life. She had a very specific idea about education, which was: you should know everything about everything. It was quite simple. There was no exclusivity, and there really was no judgment, which is a good thing for someone who still thinks of themselves as a very basic American.
Twyla Tharp
Image
The routine is as much a part of the creative process as the lightening bold of inspiration, maybe more. And this routine is available to everyone.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Confidence is a trait that has to be earned honestly and refreshed constantly you have to work as hard to protect your skills as you did to develop them. . . The one thing that creative souls around the world have in common is that they all have to practice to maintain their skills. Art is a vast democracy of habit.
Twyla Tharp
Image
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.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Energy and time are finite resources conserving them is very important.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I always, somehow, knew that I was going to dance.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I don't think that scheduling is uncreative. I think that structure is required for creativity.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Modern dancers should be doing things no one else is doing, and it should come from the gut.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Don’t sign on for more problems than you must. Resist the temptation to involve yourself in other people’s zones of expertise and responsibility. Monitor troublesome situations if you need to, but don’t insert yourself unless you’re running out of time and a solution is nowhere in sight. In short, stifle your inner control freak.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Art is an investigation.
Twyla Tharp
Image
It was not until I had graduated from college that I made a professional commitment to it. Frankly, I didn't think it wise. I was my own interior parental force, and it's very difficult to justify a profession as a dancer.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Generosity is luck going in the opposite direction, away from you. If you're generous to someone, if you do something to help him out, you are in effect making him lucky. This is important. It's like inviting yourself into a community of good fortune.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I don't believe in rushing and saying this is done and over with. That form of rebellion doesn't make sense to me. I've always attempted to familiarize myself with the traditions, and consider that a responsibility of the artist.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Judgment is not my business. Existing is my business.
Twyla Tharp