Twyla Tharp, one of the most iconic dancemakers of our time, has collaborated with all of the greatest ballet companies in the world – including PNB.
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She was born in Indiana, where her mother would teach her piano, dance, speech, and writing for over 15 hours every day.
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She was named after Twila Thornburg, the Pig Princess at the 89th annual Muncie Fair, but her mother thought “Twyla” would look better than “Twila” on a marquee.
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Tharp started her own dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance, after graduating from Barnard College. In 1988, Twyla Tharp Dance merged with American Ballet Theatre.
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She became a dancer in part because she knew women could be pioneers in the field. “I thought, ‘Well here’s an even playing field – dance,” she says. “It was a very rational choice.”
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Tharp has choreographed 129 dances and ballets, 12 TV specials, six movies, four Broadway shows, and two figure skating routines.
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Her (intimidating) list of accolades includes a Tony Award, two Emmys, 19 honorary doctorates, the National Medal of the Arts, a Kennedy Center honor, and the MacArthur “Genius” fellowship.
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Now 75 years old, Twyla always strives for more. “I had always seen myself as a star,” she says. “I wanted to be a galaxy.”
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She was our very first Artist in Residence in 2013, when she created Waiting At The Station.
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Tharp has created three ballets for PNB, including Afternoon Ball, Opus 111, and Waiting at the Station. Additionally, she has staged four ballets with us: Brief Fling, In the Upper Room, Nine Sinatra Songs, and Waterbaby Bagatelles.
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Though she has three books under her belt, Tharp says she prefers to communicate without words: “The ballet needs to tell its own story in such a way it can be received without having to be translated into language.”
