“ Our ability to grow is directly proportional to an ability to entertain the uncomfortable. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 682
“ The only thing I fear more than change is no change. The business of being static makes me nuts. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 601
“ The thing about creativity is, people are going to laugh at it. Get over it. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 2.4K
“ Life is about moving, it’s about change. And when things stop doing that they’re dead. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 1.3K
“ Reading, conversation, environment, culture, heroes, mentors, nature – all are lottery tickets for creativity. Scratch away at them and you’ll find out how big a prize you’ve won. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 1K
“ When I walk into [the studio] I am alone, but I am alone with my body, ambition, ideas, passions, needs, memories, goals, prejudices, distractions, fears. These ten items are at the heart of who I am. Whatever I am going to create will be a reflection of how these have shaped my life, and how I've learned to channel my experiences into them. The last two distractions and fears are the dangerous ones. They're the habitual demons that invade the launch of any project. No one starts a creative endeavor without a certain amount of fear; the key is to learn how to keep freefloating fears from paralyzing you before you've begun. When I feel that sense of dread, I try to make it as specific as possible. Let me tell you my five big fears: 1. People will laugh at me. 2. Someone has done it before. 3. I have nothing to say. 4. I will upset someone I love. 5. Once executed, the idea will never be as good as it is in my mind. "There are mighty demons, but they're hardly unique to me. You probably share some. If I let them, they'll shut down my impulses ('No, you can't do that') and perhaps turn off the spigots of creativity altogether. So I combat my fears with a staringdown ritual, like a boxer looking his opponent right in the eye before a bout. 1. People will laugh at me? Not the people I respect; they haven't yet, and they're not going to start now.... 2. Someone has done it before? Honey, it's all been done before. Nothing's original. Not Homer or Shakespeare and certainly not you. Get over yourself. 3. I have nothing to say? An irrelevant fear. We all have something to say. 4. I will upset someone I love? A serious worry that is not easily exorcised or stared down because you never know how loved ones will respond to your creation. The best you can do is remind yourself that you're a good person with good intentions. You're trying to create unity, not discord. 5. Once executed, the idea will never be as good as it is in my mind? Toughen up. Leon Battista Alberti, the 15th century architectural theorist, said, 'Errors accumulate in the sketch and compound in the model.' But better an imperfect dome in Florence than cathedrals in the clouds. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
“ It is extremely arrogant and very foolish to think that you can ever outwit your audience. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 2.8K
“ 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- Copy
- 2.5K
“ 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- Copy
- 2.1K
“ 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- Copy
- 2.9K
“ 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- Copy
- 3.2K
“ 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- Copy
- 2.6K
“ 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- Copy
- 2.1K
“ 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- Copy
- 3.1K
“ 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. You also need to have faith that life is composed not of alien or segregated elements but of related components… ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 1.1K
“ The formal education that I received made little sense to me. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 3.1K
“ 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- Copy
- 1.3K
“ 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- Copy
- 1.2K
“ 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- Copy
- 111
“ 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- Copy
- 1.6K
“ Optimism with some experience behind it is much more energizing than plain old experience with a certain degree of cynicism. ”
- Twyla Tharp- Copy
- 1.6K
- 1
- 2
- 3