A major biography of the great American choreographer. Twyla Tharp is undoubtedly one of the world's greatest choreographers. With a career that began in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, and that ranges from the avant-garde to such huge commercial Broadway successes as her Tony award-winning "Movin' Out" set to the music of Billy Joel, Tharp has reinterpreted modern dance by removing the artificial barriers between ideas of modern, jazz and classical ballet. She has worked with many of the world's leading companies, including the Royal Opera, the Paris Opera Ballet, and the New York City Ballet; but she stands outside any establishment. She confounds expectations of what people can expect on the dance stage; consistently defying categorisation, and frequently moving from poverty to wealth and back again as a result. The one thing that has never wavered, is an unquenchable creativity fuelled by a personality that's never content to rest on its laurels.
From pieces like "The 100s", that uses over a hundred non-dancers making carefully coordinated movements, to "Deuce Coupe", in which she uses the music of The Beach Boys, Tharp is a member of that American dance pantheon that includes Balanchine, Robbins, De Mille, Humphreys and Graham. Her new piece "The Times They Are A-Changin", based on the words and music of Bob Dylan, opens in early 2006. This is the first full-length book devoted to her work and it's written by one of the America's greatest dance critics, Marcia Siegel. Thwarp a regular visitor to London with the Twyla Tharp Company, and her popular credits include "Singin' in the Rain" and the film of "Hair" together with many canonical pieces of contemporary dance for the stage.
- ISBN10 0413765709
- ISBN13 9780413765703
- Publish Date 20 April 2006 (first published 7 March 2006)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 12 March 2013
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Methuen Publishing Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English