Twyla Tharp Quotes

The necessity to constantly turn in an excellent performance, to be absolutely wedded to this dedication and this ideal means that as a child you're going to pay for it personally.

In terms of individuals who actually inspired me, very few of the academic people that I had access to had that power over me. Maybe it's simply because I wasn't that committed to geometry.

You can keep on chewing gum for ten hours, but after about a minute and a half you've got all the good out of it.

Everyone has a talent. It's simply a question of good discipline, of the good fortune to have an education that meshes with that talent, and a lot of luck.

Everything is raw material. Everything is relevant. Everything is usable. Everything feeds into my creativity. But without proper preparation, I cannot see it, retain it, and use it.

The routine is as much a part of the creative process as the lightening bold of inspiration, maybe more. And this routine is available to everyone.

I read for growth, firmly believing that what you are today and what you will be in five years depends on two things: the people you meet and the books you read.

Traveling the paths of greatness, even in someone else's footprints, is a vital means to acquiring skill.

I think people want very much to simplify their lives enough so that they can control the things that make it possible to sleep at night.

Whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources.

In the future, I will make certain that I commit to projects so there's enough breathing space for me to have an emotional life.

In creative endeavors luck is a skill.

I think of music as fuel, its spectrum of energy governed by tempi, volume, and heart.

Miloš Forman is a great director; Jim Brooks is a wonderful writer and director.

Any comic is a tragic soul. Comedy is one of the things that allows one to survive. Particularly if one has been in the process of separating off the emotions, it's one place you can process them.

I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission, and that's what I set out to do.

It's very difficult to justify a profession as a dancer.

I started formal piano training when I was 4. From there I had little violas, and I had dancing lessons of every sort and description, and painting lessons. I had German. And shorthand.

In those days, male dancers were a rarer breed than women. as they are still today, A good male dancer, one as strong as we were, was very difficult to come by if you couldn't afford to pay them.

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.

when dancing is right, the movement possesss a logic common to us all, an inevitability that takes it beyond the personal and egocentric and makes of it classical art.

When it all comes together, a creative life has the nourishing power we normally associate with food, love and faith.

Solitude is an unavoidable part of creativity. Self-reliance is a happy by-product.

Usually kids who are talented have the brashness to think they can do anything, but they don't often get the chance to see how close they can come.

You only need one good reason to commit to an idea, not four hundred. But if you have four hundred reasons to say yes and one reason to say no, the answer is probably no.

I have the wherewithal to challenge myself for my entire life. That's a great gift.

I work because I have issues and questions and feelings and thoughts that I want to have a look at. I'm not in need of, or wanting, particularly, to know what other folk are up to.

A young person has to start making decisions for themselves at a much earlier age than an overbearing parent allows one.

I was valedictorian. Did I enjoy going to school? I hated it. It wasn't a choice on my part, it was expected.

I am fairly concise when I work and I work quickly because I think work is done better in a high gear than done our in a gear when everyone's exhausted. Get focused, do it!

Creativity requires quite a lot of faith - not just in yourself but also in the knowledge that you have the right to proceed, even when you may not know exactly what you're doing.

While most people in the arts think they have to be constantly looking forward to be edgy and creative....the real secret of creativity is to go back and remember.

The more you know, the better you can imagine.

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

Obligation is a flimsy base for creativity, way down the list behind passion, courage, instinct, and the desire to do something great.

I've always thought my creative life began the moment my mother called me Twyla.

when the time came I would do battle with my mother for the right to sit at the center of my own life.

You're only kidding yourself if you put creativity before craft.

The notion of the hero as outsider, as alien, is forget it, over, done with. It's not about being against society anymore. It's about standing there, holding something up. It's not pulling away.

Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft.

Once you accept the power of spine in the creative act, you will become much more efficient in your creativity. You will still get lost on occasion, but having a spine will anchor you.

A commission is an invitation to fall in love.

We get into ruts when we run with the first idea that pops into our head, not the last one.

You don't have a really good idea until you combine two little ideas.

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits. That's it in a nutshell ... In order to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative.

Men and women are very different athletes, and frankly, I didn't want to deal with the male potential.

I don't think that scheduling is uncreative. I think that structure is required for creativity.

A dancer's life is all about repetition.

if you want to create art, you'd best have a deep belief in yourself and no ulterior motives.

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