Twyla Tharp Quotes

Powerful Twyla Tharp for Daily Growth

About Twyla Tharp

Twyla Tharp is an illustrious American dancer, choreographer, and actress who has made profound contributions to the world of dance spanning over five decades. Born on July 1, 1941, in Portland, Indiana, she grew up in a modest family with a strong emphasis on education and music. Her love for dance was ignited at an early age, and she began formal training at the age of fifteen. Tharp's career took off when she joined the Harkness Ballet in 1959, where she performed works by esteemed choreographers such as George Balanchine and Martha Graham. In 1965, she founded her own company, Twyla Tharp Dance, which has since produced over 130 original works. Tharp's unique style combines modern, ballet, and contemporary dance with elements of rhythm, structure, and improvisation. Her choreography is often abstract, exploring themes of movement, space, and time, and pushing the boundaries of traditional dance forms. Some of Tharp's most notable works include "Deuce Coupe" (1973), which was set to music by The Beach Boys; "Push Comes to Shove" (1976); and "The Catherine Wheel" (1981). In 1992, she created a dance piece for the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics. Tharp's influence extends beyond the world of dance. She has written several books, including "The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life" (2005), which offers insights into her creative process and how anyone can cultivate their own creativity. In 2016, she published "The Collaborative Habit: A Business Manifesto for Teaming", emphasizing the importance of collaboration in achieving success. Twyla Tharp continues to create and inspire, demonstrating that with dedication, creativity, and a willingness to innovate, one can make a significant impact on the world.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."

Twyla Tharp's quote, "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax," highlights the complexities and confusion that many people experience when trying to comprehend and navigate the intricate systems of income taxes. This statement underscores the idea that the tax code can be overwhelmingly complicated, making it challenging for individuals and businesses alike to accurately report their earnings and comply with all relevant regulations. In essence, Tharp's quote suggests that the complexity of income tax laws often leads to feelings of frustration, exasperation, and bewilderment among those trying to navigate them.

"Creativity is a discipline. It's not an impulse. It doesn't come from an idea. It comes from the process of the work."

This quote suggests that creativity, contrary to popular belief, isn't merely an spontaneous or inspirational act. Instead, it is a result of consistent effort, rigor, and discipline in the creative process itself. It emphasizes that ideas don't spark creativity, but rather the actual work and dedication to the craft does. This perspective encourages artists and creators to focus on the process, trusting that the outcome will follow from their persistent, disciplined approach.

"To succeed, you need to find your own way."

This quote emphasizes that personal success depends on discovering one's unique path rather than blindly following others'. It suggests that every individual has a distinct journey to self-discovery and achievement, and finding that path is crucial for realizing their potential. To succeed means not only striving towards goals but doing so in a manner that is authentic, personal, and reflective of one's values and abilities.

"It takes a lot of work to see a dance, to see it as something more than people moving around."

This quote suggests that understanding and appreciating art, in this case, dance, requires effort beyond mere observation. It's not just about watching people move; it involves perceiving the deeper meaning, the intention, the story or emotion behind the movements. The work refers to both the effort of the artist in creating the piece and the viewer's effort in deciphering its essence.

"The creative act is not a single act but a series of small decisions."

This quote emphasizes that creativity, much like a journey, is a continuous process rather than a single event or moment. The 'creative act' implies the birth of something new, unique, or innovative. Twyla Tharp suggests that this creative process is not a singular, monumental decision, but a series of smaller, incremental choices. Each choice moves the creator closer to their final outcome, contributing to the larger whole. This perspective encourages perseverance and patience, as it demonstrates that progress can be made through diligent, consistent effort, rather than relying on sudden bursts of inspiration.

Dance should not just divide people into audience and performers. Everyone should be a participant, whether going to classes or attending special events or rehearsals.

- Twyla Tharp

Audience, Everyone, Going, Performers

The only thing I fear more than change is no change. The business of being static makes me nuts.

- Twyla Tharp

Business, More, Static

What we want from modern dance is courage and audacity.

- Twyla Tharp

Want, Modern, Modern Dance, Audacity

This is the strange thing: Dancers don't age.

- Twyla Tharp

Strange, Dancers, Thing, Strange Thing

I often say that in making dances I can make a world where I think things are done morally, done democratically, done honestly.

- Twyla Tharp

Think, Making, I Think, Morally

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Strong, Dancers, Very, Rarer

Dance is the most fundamental of all art forms.

- Twyla Tharp

Art, Most, Fundamental, Art Forms

'Bum's Rush' is a piece about timing, and everything that's in the piece needs to be with the piece. If people are missing, or marking, or unable to use their voices, the impulses that prompt the action are lost, and its logic crumbles.

- Twyla Tharp

Timing, Needs, Use, Bum

Nobody worked harder than Mozart. By the time he was twenty-eight years old, his hands were deformed because of all the hours he had spent practicing, performing, and gripping a quill pen to compose. That's the missing element in the popular portrait of Mozart.

- Twyla Tharp

Hands, Had, By The Time, Missing

There's the tradition of the 19th-century ballets, and the 20th century has had a difficult time with that tradition. And it's had a difficult time with many components of the Romantic imagination because of modernism.

- Twyla Tharp

Components, Ballets, Difficult Time

Creativity is not just for artists. It's for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it's for engineers trying to solve a problem; it's for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.

- Twyla Tharp

Problem, New Way, See, Engineers

A lot of people insisted on a wall between modern dance and ballet. I'm beginning to think that walls are very unhealthy things.

- Twyla Tharp

Beginning, Think, Very, Unhealthy

The artist doesn't really think about consequences - he or she does the work, stands back and looks at and thinks, 'Hmm, that could have worked better like this.' But as a person who needs to sell tickets to do the next work, one needs to analyze how it does or does not hit its mark.

- Twyla Tharp

Artist, Next, Tickets, Analyze

Playwrights have texts, composers have scores, painters and sculptors have the residue of those activities, and dance is traditionally an ephemeral, effervescent, here-today-gone-tomorrow kind of thing.

- Twyla Tharp

Kind, Composers, Scores, Playwrights

You can only generate ideas when you put pencil to paper, brush to canvas... when you actually do something physical.

- Twyla Tharp

Ideas, Canvas, Brush, Generate

I have not wanted to intimidate audiences. I have not wanted my dancing to be an elitist form. That doesn't mean I haven't wanted it to be excellent.

- Twyla Tharp

Dancing, Wanted, Form, Intimidate

When I started making dances in the '60s, narrative dance was sort of off the radar screen. What was important at the time in the avant-garde was minimalism.

- Twyla Tharp

Making, Screen, Narrative, Avant-Garde

When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because it was just the flip side of being really successful.

- Twyla Tharp

Kid, Side, Being, Avant-Garde

Do I watch dancers as people? Yes, absolutely. Do I watch really good dancers for specifically who they are? Absolutely, because how they move best and how they look best is going to be most familiar to them, and not necessarily to me.

- Twyla Tharp

Dancers, Going, Move, Specifically

I'm not one who divides music, dance or art into various categories. Either something works, or it doesn't.

- Twyla Tharp

Art, Something, Works, Categories

To survive, you've got to keep wheedling your way. You can't just sit there and fight against odds when it's not going to work. You have to turn a corner, dig a hole, go through a tunnel - and find a way to keep moving.

- Twyla Tharp

Dig, Through, Against, Odds

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

- Twyla Tharp

Star, Always, Wanted, Galaxy

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!

- Twyla Tharp

Think, Everyone, I Think, Concise

The ballet needs to tell its own story in such a way it can be received without having to be translated into language.

- Twyla Tharp

Tell, Needs, Having, Such A Way

I've read probably 25 or 30 books by Balzac, all of Tolstoy - the novels and letters - and all of Dickens. I learned my craft from these guys.

- Twyla Tharp

Craft, Read, Learned, Tolstoy

I think Tolstoy had an unbelievably complicated relationship with women.

- Twyla Tharp

Think, Complicated, I Think, Tolstoy

Well, Mozart is extraordinary not only in that he became virtuoso along the lines of his father, but that he had that compositional gift, that melodic gift. By the time he was four, he was doing piano concertos with harmony in the background.

- Twyla Tharp

Gift, By The Time, Became, Mozart

Schubert had arguably the same melodic gift as Mozart, but even less support. He didn't have the early exposure, never got to travel anywhere, and yet generated and amassed a body of work that grew and developed and is very profound.

- Twyla Tharp

Gift, Very, Melodic, Mozart

I have a sort of tactility about music. I go into record stores and just run my fingers over it, the spines.

- Twyla Tharp

Over, Over It, Stores, Record Stores

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

- Twyla Tharp

Creativity, Think, I Think, Scheduling

I do at least 75 push-ups a day.

- Twyla Tharp

Day, Least, Push-Ups

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Over, Committed, Very, Geometry

It's always a problem, getting the curtain in at the end of the first act; having enough of a resolve so that you can bring the curtain in and then opening the show a second time is a little bizarre as a tradition. I've always preferred to go straight through.

- Twyla Tharp

Through, Resolve, Bizarre, Curtain

After so many years, I've learned that being creative is a full-time job with its own daily patterns. That's why writers, for example, like to establish routines for themselves.

- Twyla Tharp

Like, Full-Time, Learned, Establish

My dancers expect me to deliver because my choreography represents their livelihood.

- Twyla Tharp

Expect, Represents, Choreography

With each piece I've completed I have worked to make it intact, and each of them has been an equal high. It's like children. A mother refuses to pick out one as a favorite, and I can't do any better with the dances.

- Twyla Tharp

Out, Been, Dances, Completed

It's very difficult for me to do fund raising for my own organization if I'm working for other companies because sponsors will say, 'Well, hey, man, if she's doing a ballet for Ballet Theatre, we'll give money to Ballet Theatre.'

- Twyla Tharp

Doing, Other, Very, Hey

I learned very early that an audience would relax and look at things differently if they felt they could laugh with you from time to time. There's an energy that comes through the release of tension that is laughter.

- Twyla Tharp

Through, Release, Very, From Time To Time

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Process, Survive, Been, To Survive

Unfortunately, I think we've probably all had the experience that if we're in a relationship where one of the partners is doing it 'my' way, that relationship is not going to survive.

- Twyla Tharp

Doing, Think, I Think, To Survive

Counterpoint is a component that gives real energy, and it is about optimism.

- Twyla Tharp

Optimism, About, Component, Counterpoint

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Dancing, Description, German, Shorthand

Things change all the time, so why do people make such a philosophical to-do that things are constantly in transition?

- Twyla Tharp

Change, Why, Constantly, Transition

I'm not satisfied sitting in just the world of abstract work.

- Twyla Tharp

Work, World, Satisfied, Sitting

It was not until I had graduated from college that I made a professional commitment to it. Frankly, I didn't think it wise. I was my own interior parental force, and it's very difficult to justify a profession as a dancer.

- Twyla Tharp

College, Own, Very, Parental

I look for dancers who have all the technique in the world. But they must be dancers who are open-minded, who are willing to forget that they know anything. They also have to be gorgeous; they must have a clear image of themselves and strong personalities.

- Twyla Tharp

Strong, Dancers, Image, Personalities

Proust writes, he remembers, physically. He depends on his body to give him the information that will bring him to the past. His book is called 'In Search of Lost Time,' and he does it through the senses. He does it through smell. He does it through feeling. He does it through texture. It is all physically driven, that language.

- Twyla Tharp

Book, Through, Senses, Writes

A commission is an invitation to fall in love.

- Twyla Tharp

Love, Fall, Invitation, Commission

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Thoughts, Other, Wanting, Feelings

Work is work; wherever I'm working, I do the best I can. If the actual dollars come from investors as opposed to taxpayers and patrons, what's the difference?

- Twyla Tharp

Work, Actual, Opposed, Wherever

When I say I can see through clothes, sometimes I try to use it as an X-ray vision to look into the dancer and see who this dancer is right now, at this exact moment in time. I live inside them in a way.

- Twyla Tharp

Sometimes, Through, Use, Exact

I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.

- Twyla Tharp

Find, 20th Century, Century, Hopelessly

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Education, Luck, Fortune, Good Fortune

Who a dancer is physically feeds into character for me. Always has.

- Twyla Tharp

Character, Always, Dancer, Feeds

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

- Twyla Tharp

Myself, Gift, Great Gift, Wherewithal

I don't mean this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't really think of pop art and serious art as being that far apart.

- Twyla Tharp

Art, Think, Going, Pop Art

Ultimately there is no such thing as failure. There are lessons learned in different ways.

- Twyla Tharp

Failure, Ways, Learned, Lessons

What I do remember is visualization of the sound of music, seeing bodies in movement in relation to how music sounded, because my mother practiced at the keyboard a lot and I also went to her lessons. As a two year old, three year old I remember seeing things in movement.

- Twyla Tharp

I Remember, Sound Of Music, Lessons

There are very few critics who have historical context or authority.

- Twyla Tharp

Authority, Critics, Very, Context

I've always believed that a dance evening energizes an audience, that an audience goes out feeling chemically stronger and more optimistic. This is what I understand about dance. And this is an important thing. We need this. Our culture needs it.

- Twyla Tharp

About, Important Thing, Our, Evening

My favorite audience is everybody. I worked in a drive-in theater from the time I was 8 years old until I went to college, and I'm accustomed to everybody can buy a ticket and everybody should be taken into account.

- Twyla Tharp

College, Audience, Everybody, Accustomed

If you're speaking of love, you really must include the element of uncertainty - and perhaps it's best approached as the art of constant maintenance.

- Twyla Tharp

Love, Art, Include, Element

There is a moral dimension, for me, in anything that's any good.

- Twyla Tharp

Good, Me, Any, Dimension

Walt Disney was a master of the human psychology. His sense of timing, sense of speed. In a sense, those cartoons are like Rorschach tests.

- Twyla Tharp

Like, Rorschach, Walt, Disney

My father always said, 'I don't care if you're a ditch digger, as long as you're the best ditch digger in the world.'

- Twyla Tharp

Father, Best, Always, Ditch

It is extremely arrogant and very foolish to think that you can ever outwit your audience.

- Twyla Tharp

Think, Very, Ever, Foolish

I don't think politicians should be allowed into power who are not familiar with their bodies, because that's where our bottom line is. And I know that they would make totally different decisions if they felt responsible simply for their own bodies.

- Twyla Tharp

Line, Allowed, Bodies, Decisions

I've always felt compelled to explore range, because, as far as I know, we're only here once. So let's see how much we can encompass.

- Twyla Tharp

Here, Always, Encompass, As Far As

I always find that the best collaborations are when you work with people that know what they're doing, and you leave them alone to do it.

- Twyla Tharp

Work, Doing, Always, Collaborations

I've survived inattention. I hope to God I survive attention.

- Twyla Tharp

Hope, Attention, Survive, Survived

Nothing is more terrifying to me, really, than the status quo. I'll make mistakes before I keep doing something the same way.

- Twyla Tharp

Doing, Before, Terrifying, Status Quo

Everything present is included in the past somewhere; nobody's present pops out of nowhere.

- Twyla Tharp

Past, In The Past, Nowhere, Included

I'm not interested in seeing dance die. It's not to my advantage. Nor is it to our culture's advantage or anybody else's.

- Twyla Tharp

Die, Anybody, Advantage, Not Interested

The content and thematic materials of dance is, of itself, like boxing. You play tennis and baseball. But boxing is not a sport you play: you stand up and do it.

- Twyla Tharp

Play, Content, Like, Stand Up

My own physicality, not an abstract idea, makes me a choreographer.

- Twyla Tharp

My Own, Idea, Choreographer, Abstract

My mother was the first woman in the county in Indiana where we were born, in Jay County, to have a college degree. She was educated as a pianist and she wanted to concertize, but when the war came she was married, had a family, so she started teaching.

- Twyla Tharp

Woman, College, County, Indiana

Balzac loved courtesans. They were independent women, and in the 19th century, that was a breed that was just evolving.

- Twyla Tharp

Loved, Evolving, Century, Breed

I'm obviously always interested in the dancer who's an athlete and vice versa. I expect dancers to be in condition like an athlete is and to challenge themselves in the same way, to the same physical degree.

- Twyla Tharp

Athlete, Always, Vice, Vice Versa

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Think, I Think, Very, Simplify

No artist is well served in thinking what will happen to their works. The best one can hope is that they'll enter the mainstream, and people will pull bits and pieces from them.

- Twyla Tharp

Artist, Happen, Works, Enter

The rewards of dancing are very different from choreographing.

- Twyla Tharp

Dancing, Different, Very, Rewards

Desire is the first thing a modern dancer should have. Skill can be developed. But if you don't have desire as a modern dancer, forget it.

- Twyla Tharp

Desire, Developed, Dancer, The First Thing

These days, I think we could all agree that having a just-friend is not a bad thing.

- Twyla Tharp

Think, I Think, Having, Bad Thing

In the not-for-profit world, there can be wastefulness because there's not the desperate urgency of when you're on a clock.

- Twyla Tharp

World, Because, Desperate, Urgency

I thought I had to make an impact on history. I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission. Posterity deals with us however it sees fit. But I gave it 20 years of my best shot.

- Twyla Tharp

Impact, Thought, However, Choreographer

Optimism with some experience behind it is much more energizing than plain old experience with a certain degree of cynicism.

- Twyla Tharp

Behind, Some, Cynicism, Plain

I grew up in a drive-in theater, from the time I was 8, working in a snack bar watching four features every week. It was silent theater in the sense that this was a drive-in, which meant that I often saw the films going with no sound. But I learned to tell stories through action.

- Twyla Tharp

Week, Through, Snack, Bar

Let me put it this way: I would like to direct a successful film. An unsuccessful film I would not like to direct. Films are very difficult.

- Twyla Tharp

Like, Very, Films, Unsuccessful

I was privileged to be able to study a year with Martha Graham, the last year she was teaching.

- Twyla Tharp

She, Study, Privileged, Graham

I don't hate language. I have my own language, but I also enjoy the English language. Obviously, you don't read a lot of literature and not care about language.

- Twyla Tharp

Own, My Own, Read, Care

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.

- Twyla Tharp

Art, Only, Away, Leaving

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Postmodernism, Which, Means, Destroys

What is music about? You can't listen to one era, one composer, and know what music is about.

- Twyla Tharp

Music, Composer, About, Era

I used to say to myself, 'Well, in the old days everybody danced because they loved to dance, and there was none of this professional garbage going on about how much can you get for this or that or the other, or any of the kinds of things that insecurity can sometimes promote. Sometimes it's for the wrong reasons.'

- Twyla Tharp

Other, Everybody, Reasons, Promote

I would have to challenge the term, modern dance. I don't really use that term in relation to my work. I simply think of it as dancing. I think of it as moving.

- Twyla Tharp

Dancing, Think, I Think, Moving

I've always found it necessity to strip away everything but the most fundamental ways to work - the rest is style.

- Twyla Tharp

Rest, Always, Away, Strip

We don't need to illustrate music; music illustrates itself.

- Twyla Tharp

Music, Need, Itself, Illustrate

A dancer's life is all about repetition.

- Twyla Tharp

Life, About, Dancer, Repetition

'The Creative Habit' is basically about how you work alone, how you survive as a solitary artist. 'The Collaborative Habit' is obviously about surviving with other people.

- Twyla Tharp

Artist, Survive, Other, Collaborative

I think that anyone who's pushed to do the very best that they can is privileged. It's a luxury.

- Twyla Tharp

Think, Very, Privileged, Luxury

At the ballet classes I took when I first came to New York, I would see great dancers like Cynthia Gregory and Lupe Serrano. I would look at them and study what they could do, and what I couldn't do. And then I'd think maybe they should try what I could do.

- Twyla Tharp

Study, Dancers, Maybe, York

When I started thinking seriously about learning the rules of narrative, I thought, 'You've learned the rules of dancing from the ballet; what's the matter with learning the laws of theater from the people who know how to do it?'

- Twyla Tharp

Dancing, Thought, Laws, Ballet

I find that dancers are only well trained in ballet these days.

- Twyla Tharp

Find, Dancers, Trained, Ballet

When I look at the people who are the guiding figures in modern dance, I think, 'This does not look to me like the way I want to spend my days.'

- Twyla Tharp

Think, I Think, Figures, Modern Dance

Dance is just like film in that it allows for thoughts in movement.

- Twyla Tharp

Thoughts, Film, Like, Dance

I feel I can handle the architecture of dance as well as anybody.

- Twyla Tharp

Feel, Well, Anybody, Dance

People often say to me, 'I don't know anything about dance.' I say, 'Stop. You got up this morning, and you're walking. You are an expert.'

- Twyla Tharp

Expert, Often, About, Dance

Dance has never been a particularly easy life, and everybody knows that.

- Twyla Tharp

Never, Been, Everybody, Dance

I see dance as glue for a community.

- Twyla Tharp

See, Glue, I See, Dance

I am still pushing the edge of what my body can do.

- Twyla Tharp

I Am, Edge, Still, Pushing

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits.

- Twyla Tharp

Habit, Habits, Result, Good Work

The ultimate point of a piece for me is that it drives the next one. Does it open new doors? That's the success of a piece.

- Twyla Tharp

New, Next, Ultimate, Doors

Art is an investigation.

- Twyla Tharp

Art, Investigation

Broadway has some very tight expectations as to what a show is.

- Twyla Tharp

Some, Broadway, Very, Expectations

My mother was a dominant force in my life. She had a very specific idea about education, which was: you should know everything about everything. It was quite simple. There was no exclusivity, and there really was no judgment.

- Twyla Tharp

My Life, Very, Which, Force

I'm a known reader. That's what I do with my time.

- Twyla Tharp

Time, Known, Reader, My Time

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.

- Twyla Tharp

Excellent, Ideal, Means, Necessity

When I was a kid, toe dancing and toe shoes had a meaning in our culture as a serious kind of art.

- Twyla Tharp

Art, Dancing, Kind, Serious

If I didn't believe in myself as a dancer, I wouldn't choreograph.

- Twyla Tharp

Myself, Believe, Dancer, Choreograph

To make real change, you have to be well anchored - not only in the belief that it can be done, but also in some pretty real ways about who you are and what you can do.

- Twyla Tharp

Change, Some, Pretty, Anchored

If a thing moves, it lives.

- Twyla Tharp

Lives, Thing, Moves

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

- Twyla Tharp

Think, Will, I Think, Dark Place

There is obviously a power and a truth in action that doesn't lie, which words easily can do.

- Twyla Tharp

Truth, Words, Which, Action

The formal education that I received made little sense to me.

- Twyla Tharp

Education, Me, Made, Formal

It's very important to work myself physically as hard as I can.

- Twyla Tharp

Work, Important, Very, Physically

I never studied with Balanchine, but his work was very important to me.

- Twyla Tharp

Important, Never, Very, Studied

I realize that dancers have worked long and hard for standards. However, on occasion, I think that it's good to examine one's heart and ask why are we dancing.

- Twyla Tharp

Think, Occasion, However, Worked

Kids should be encouraged to compete.

- Twyla Tharp

Compete, Should, Kids, Encouraged

I don't judge. Judgment is not my business. Existing is my business.

- Twyla Tharp

Business, Judgment, Existing, Judge

Modern dancers should be doing things no one else is doing, and it should come from the gut.

- Twyla Tharp

Doing, Modern, Else, Dancers

Critics should be looked at simply as commentators.

- Twyla Tharp

Should, Simply, Looked, Critics

Judgment is not my business. Existing is my business.

- Twyla Tharp

Business, Judgment, Existing

I always tell students that you've got to be practical. You do not need a dream. You need a purpose, something you can wake up to in the morning when the dream is dissipated.

- Twyla Tharp

Need, Always, Practical, Wake Up

In dreams, anything can be anything, and everybody can do. We can fly, we can turn upside down, we can transform into anything.

- Twyla Tharp

Fly, Everybody, Transform, Upside

The only way to know the truth of a movement is to do it on your own body.

- Twyla Tharp

Truth, Own, Only, Body

I do not watch television, never have.

- Twyla Tharp

Never, Watch, Television

You either entertain an audience or you don't.

- Twyla Tharp

Audience, You, Either, Entertain

In circuses, there is a lot of magic. Things become other things.

- Twyla Tharp

Other, Things, Lot, Magic

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