Quote

dance is simply the refinement of human movement - walking, running, and jumping. We are all experts. There should be no art form more accessible than dance, yet no art is more mystifying in the public imagination.

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
Form
Dance
Human
Walking
Humans
Movement
Simply
Mystifying
Imagination
Refinement
Public
Accessible
Running
Jumping
Art
Experts

More quotes by Twyla Tharp

Image
I read for growth, firmly believing that what you are today and what you will be in five years depends on two things: the people you meet and the books you read.
Twyla Tharp
Image
The blank space can be humbling. But I've faced it my whole professional life. It's my job. It's also my calling. Bottom line: Filling this empty space constitutes my identity.
Twyla Tharp
Image
There's this expression called postmodernism, which is kind of silly, and destroys a perfectly good word called modern, which now no longer means anything.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I repeat the wake-up, the workout, the quick shower, the breakfast of three hard-boiled egg whites and a cup of coffee, the hour to make my morning calls and deal with correspondence, the two hours of stretching and working out ideas by myself in the studio ... That's my day, every day. A dancer's life is all about repetition.
Twyla Tharp
Image
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
Image
I don't think politicians should be allowed into power who are not familiar with their bodies, because that's where our bottom line is. And I know that they would make totally different decisions if they felt responsible simply for their own bodies.
Twyla Tharp
Image
A dancer's life is all about repetition.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Everything is raw material. Everything is relevant. Everything is usable. Everything feeds into my creativity. But without proper preparation, I cannot see it, retain it, and use it.
Twyla Tharp
Image
In those days, male dancers were a rarer breed than women. as they are still today, A good male dancer, one as strong as we were, was very difficult to come by if you couldn't afford to pay them.
Twyla Tharp
Image
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.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I'm a known reader. That's what I do with my time.
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
Creativity requires quite a lot of faith - not just in yourself but also in the knowledge that you have the right to proceed, even when you may not know exactly what you're doing.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I do believe that when dancing is right, the movement possesses a logic common to us all.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Once you accept the power of spine in the creative act, you will become much more efficient in your creativity. You will still get lost on occasion, but having a spine will anchor you.
Twyla Tharp
Image
The ballet needs to tell its own story in such a way it can be received without having to be translated into language.
Twyla Tharp
Image
That's what improvising is like for me. There's no tollbooth between my impulse and my action.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I never studied with Balanchine, but his work was very important to me.
Twyla Tharp
Image
Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.
Twyla Tharp
Image
I always find that the best collaborations are when you work with people that know what they're doing, and you leave them alone to do it.
Twyla Tharp