Twyla Tharp

“The formal education that I received made little sense to me.”

“The only way to know the truth of a movement is to do it on your own body.”

“I'm obviously always interested in the dancer who's an athlete and vice versa. I expect dancers to be in condition like an athlete is and to challenge themselves in the same way, to the same physical degree.”

“I grew up in a drive-in theater, from the time I was 8, working in a snack bar watching four features every week. It was silent theater in the sense that this was a drive-in, which meant that I often saw the films going with no sound. But I learned to tell stories through action.”

“I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.”

“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.”

“I think a sense of humor will help get a girl out of a dark place.”

“I learned very early that an audience would relax and look at things differently if they felt they could laugh with you from time to time. There's an energy that comes through the release of tension that is laughter.”

“Here’s how I learned to improvise: I played some music in the studio and I started to move. It sounds obvious, but I wonder how many people, whatever their medium, appreciate the gift of improvisation. It’s your one opportunity in life to be completely free, with no responsibilities and no consequences. You don’t have to be good or even interesting. It’s you alone, with no one watching or judging. If anything comes of it, you decide whether the world gets to see it. In essence, you are giving yourself permission to daydream during working hours.”

“I thought I had to make an impact on history. I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission. Posterity deals with us however it sees fit. But I gave it 20 years of my best shot.”

“It is extremely arrogant and very foolish to think that you can ever outwit your audience.”

“Ultimately there is no such thing as failure. There are lessons learned in different ways.”

“Kids should be encouraged to compete.”

“Critics should be looked at simply as commentators.”

“I have not wanted to intimidate audiences. I have not wanted my dancing to be an elitist form. That doesn't mean I haven't wanted it to be excellent.”

“I had always seen myself as a star; I wanted to be a galaxy.”

“I always tell students that you've got to be practical. You do not need a dream. You need a purpose, something you can wake up to in the morning when the dream is dissipated.”

“Playwrights have texts, composers have scores, painters and sculptors have the residue of those activities, and dance is traditionally an ephemeral, effervescent, here-today-gone-tomorrow kind of thing.”

“In every situation, at the beginning or end of the workday, you have a choice. You can look back or you can look forward. My advice: look forward. Always think about the next day. Don't go into the studio thinking, 'Hmmm, let's see what I was doing yesterday?' It takes more energy to twist yourself around and look back that it does to face forward.”

“Who a dancer is physically feeds into character for me. Always has.”