Twyla Tharp: A Modern Dancer

Jennifer Singh

DANCE

9-24-15

Twyla Tharp is a modern dancer and a choreographer. Twyla was born July 1, 1941, and she is currently 74. In her early life, her mother started her off on the piano. In about 1951 Twyla and her family moved to Rialto, California. Once she was settled in at her new house she began her dance lesson at Vera Lynn School of Dance. After high school, she enrolled at Pomona College where she trained as a dancer with Wilson Morelli and John Butler. Twyla then moved colleges and went to Barnard College in Manhattan.

When Twyla was attending Barnard College, a year before she graduated she married a classmate Peter Young. That marriage did not last that long because it ended in a divorce. However, she remarried an artist

According to the reading, her choreography was very dramatic and unpredictable. She created dances with classical music, pop song, clicking metronome, and silence. Twyla dancing technique included ballet, natural movements like walking, running, and also skipping. Some of Twyla dances were she was invited for collaborations with major ballet companies.

Twyla Tharp won about 11 awards or maybe even more. In 1971, she won the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US, and Canada. Around 1985, she also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. 1991, Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. Another award she won in 1992 was the MacArthur Fellowship. In 2003, she won about 4 awards one was Tony Award for Best Choreography. Another one in 2003 was Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography she also won that award again in 2010. Also, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Choreography in 2003. Again in 2003 she won Glamor Woman of the Year Award. In 2004, she won the National Medal of Art. 2008, she won the Kennedy Center Honors. Twyla has won quite a few awards on these