Dancer, choreographer, and director Twyla Tharp has permanently expanded the boundaries of contemporary dance. After studying with the great masters in the field—Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Erick Hawkins— she founded her own company, Twyla Tharp Dance, in 1965. Fusing classical discipline and rigor with avant-garde iconoclasm and combining ballet technique with natural movements like running, walking, and skipping, she created works both humorous and edgy.

She has collaborated and performed with major ballet companies: The Joffrey Ballet premiered her Deuce Coupe (set to music by the Beach Boys), and, at American Ballet Theater, Mikhail Baryshnikov danced the lead role in Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove. Her films credits include Hair, Ragtime and Amadeus. Her 1984 TV production, Baryshnikov by Tharp, won three Emmy Awards and a Director’s Guild Award for her direction. Her Billy Joel musical, Movin’ Out, brought Tharp a Tony Award and became her most popular creation, running over three years on Broadway.
 
In 2003 she published The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, in which she shared the lessons from her own career and those of artists throughout the ages. Her honors include a MacArthur Foundation “genius” Fellowship and a 2004 National Medal of the Arts.
 

Even days after her visit, many still recount Twyla Tharp’s energy and spirit, her no-holds-barred projection of vibrancy, and how she engaged a rapt audience in a delightful exploration of her inventive and expressive world. She’s a creative icon of our time and our community is richer for knowing her.

University of Puget Sound