Twyla Tharp Profile

"I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission, and that's what I set out to do."

A large consensus of critics, dancers, and dance-loving audiences would agree that Twyla Tharp has succeeded in her mission. No one making serious dances in this country since the 1960s could ignore the challenge of her inventive, quirky, complex creations. No serious dance artist has ever stretched the boundaries between classical and popular, serious and silly, accessible and intellectual, as Twyla Tharp has. Even the arresting titles of her works convey their antic, inventive quality: The Bix Pieces, Deuce Coupe, Sue's Leg, Push Comes to Shove, Cutting Up. When she first began to work with her own small company in the 1960s, Twyla Tharp brought more intelligence, humor, originality and nerve to the making of dances than New York had seen in a long time, and she did it at a time when New York was the undisputed dance capital of the world.

Twyla Tharp accomplished all this in her youth, when her own powerful dancing was one of her company's prime attractions. Over the course of her career, she has choreographed over a hundred dance works, three Broadway shows and five feature films. Her work has been recognized with honors ranging from Broadway's Tony Award to the National Medal of the Arts.