Twyla Tharps Back Pages, With Chapters to Come
'“This is just a rough draft,” the choreographer Twyla Tharp said on a sunny afternoon in her apartment on Central Park West. “We must be nervous if we’re a writer.”
But truthfully, she didn’t seem that anxious as she read material for an upcoming talk in Chicago called “Minimalism and Me.” No, she was in full-on performance mode.
“I began my career with a right angle,” she said with a flourish.
In 1965, Ms. Tharp unveiled her first work, “Tank Dive”: With straight legs, she bent her body forward with a flat back, in reference to the Egyptian goddess Nut. To her, Nut was simply a horizontal and a vertical figure, without spiritual connotations.
“This might not seem much of a toehold,” she continued from her notes about “Tank Dive,” “but to me it was indeed a universe.”
This fall, Ms. Tharp, 76, will provide three opportunities for viewers to explore her complex choreographic universe, which has its roots in modern dance but soon grew to include ballet, as well as movies and Broadway. Even if you’ve never watched one of her dances live, you’ve likely felt her influence.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/arts/dance/twyla-tharp-joyce-theater-raggedy-dances-dylan.html?