The Creative Habit
Page 23
We could have easily become absorbed by the tragedy, lost in it and paralyzed by it, but what came back to us was the instinct to dance. I began as a dancer, and in those days of pain and shock I went back to where I started. Creating dance is the thing I know best. It is how I recognize myself. Even in the worst of times, such habits sustain, protect, and, in the most unlikely way, lift us up. I cannot think of a more compelling reason to foster the creative habit.
It permits me to walk into a white room…and walk out dancing.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My agent, Mark Reiter, may he live forever.
My trainer, Sean Kelleher, the only person who can make me do what I don’t want to do.
My teammates at Simon & Schuster: Jeff Neuman, David Rosenthal, Ruth Fecych, Jon Malki, Jackie Seow, Linda Dingler, Elizabeth Hayes, and Julian Peploe, for midwifing this book to life.
My validation squad: Richard Avedon, Robert and Eric Batscha, Lewis Cole, Robert Gottlieb, John Halpern, Ellen Jacobs, Bredo Johnsen, Susan Kagan, Irving Lavin, Santo Loquasto, Larry Moss, Mike Nichols, Jed Perl, Maurice Sendak, Norma Stevens, Patsy Tarr, Jennifer Tipton.
Nancy Gabriel of IMG Artists, for getting the ball rolling; Meg Kowalski and Karen Brown, for their help pushing it along
and
Four generations of dancers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twyla Tharp, one of America’s greatest choreographers, began her career in 1965, and in the ensuing years has created more than 130 dances for her company as well as for the Joffrey Ballet, the New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, London’s Royal Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. Working to the music of everyone from Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart to Jelly Roll Morton, Frank Sinatra, and Bruce Springsteen, she is a pioneer in melding modern dance and ballet with popular music. In film, she collaborated with Milos Forman on Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus. For television, she directed Baryshnikov by Tharp, which won two Emmy awards. For the Broadway stage, she directed the theatrical version of Singin’ in the Rain, and in 2003 won a Tony Award for Movin’ Out, which she conceived, directed, and choreographed to the songs of Billy Joel. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. In 1993, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and in 1997 was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has received eighteen honorary doctorates. She lives and works in New York City.
Mark Reiter has collaborated on eleven previous books. He is also a literary agent in Bronxville, New York.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12