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I was valedictorian. Did I enjoy going to school? I hated it. It wasn't a choice on my part, it was expected.

Twyla Tharp

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Twyla Tharp
Age: 83
Born: 1941
Born: July 1
Ballet Dancer
Choreographer
Dancer
Writer
Portland
Indiana
Expected
Choice
Wasn
Choices
Enjoy
School
Valedictorian
Part
Valedictorians
Going
Hated

More quotes by Twyla Tharp

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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
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Never worry that rote exercises aimed at developing skills will suffocate creativity. At the same time, it's important to recognize that demonstrating great technique is not the same as being creative.
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Dance has never been a particularly easy life, and everybody knows that.
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I was interested in becoming a show dancer, for which I tried, but I'm not tall enough.
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I was privileged to be able to study a year with Martha Graham, the last year she was teaching.
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No one is born with skill. It is developed through exercise, through repetition, through a blend of learning and reflection that's both painstaking and rewarding. And it takes time.
Twyla Tharp
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Life is about moving, it’s about change. And when things stop doing that they’re dead.
Twyla Tharp
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Reading, conversation, environment, culture, heroes, mentors, nature – all are lottery tickets for creativity. Scratch away at them and you’ll find out how big a prize you’ve won.
Twyla Tharp
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I don't mean this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't really think of pop art and serious art as being that far apart.
Twyla Tharp
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To embrace luck, you have to enhance your tolerance for ambiguity.
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When you stimulate your body, your brain comes alive in ways you can't simulate in a sedentary position.
Twyla Tharp
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You may wonder which came first: the skill or the hard work. But that's a moot point. The Zen master cleans his own studio. So should you.
Twyla Tharp
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I think a sense of humor will help get a girl out of a dark place.
Twyla Tharp
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To make real change, you have to be well anchored - not only in the belief that it can be done, but also in some pretty real ways about who you are and what you can do.
Twyla Tharp
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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
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Living had little use for me other than how it could be funneled into dance.
Twyla Tharp
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I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission, and that's what I set out to do.
Twyla Tharp
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You double your intensity with skill.
Twyla Tharp
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I do everything I know how in a dance.
Twyla Tharp
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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