Twyla Tharp Quotes

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

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.

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

Our ability to grow is directly proportional to an ability to entertain the uncomfortable.

No one is born with skill. It is developed through exercise, through repetition, through a blend of learning and reflection that's both painstaking and rewarding. And it takes time.

If you only do what you know and do it very, very well, chances are that you won't fail. You'll just stagnate, and your work will get less and less interesting, and that's failure by erosion

You don't get into the mood to create – it's discipline.

Life is about moving, it’s about change. And when things stop doing that they’re dead.

More often than not I've found, a rut is a consequence of sticking to tried and tested methods that don't take into account how you or the world has changed.

If art is the bridge between what you see in your mind and what the world sees, then skill is how you build that bridge.

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.

Art is an investigation.

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

You have to believe there's something at the other side. And you have to have faith in yourself. You have to think that you have the tools to accomplish it.

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

Dance is the stepchild of the arts.

Over time, as the daily routines become second nature, discipline morphs into habit.

I'm often asked, 'Where do you get your ideas?' ...It's like asking, 'Where do you find air to breathe?' Ideas are all around you.

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

There are as many forms of memory as there are ways of perceiving, and every one of them is worth mining for inspiration.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

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.

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

Dancers are allowed, indeed encouraged, to remain children forever.

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

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

I do everything I know how in a dance.

Dancing is like bank robbery, it takes split-second timing.

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

When you stimulate your body, your brain comes alive in ways you can't simulate in a sedentary position.

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.

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

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.

When you're in a rut, you have to question everything except your ability to get out of it.

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

Without the little ideas, there are no big ideas.

Limits are a secret blessing, and bounty can be a curse.

Before you can think out of the box, you have to start with a box

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

We're a machine and we have to be worked in the same way we have to be fed.

Metaphor is the lifeblood of all art.

I'm willing to be regarded as a tyrant to keep my vision intact.

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

Creativity is an act of defiance.

By making the start of the sequence automatic, they replace doubt and fear with comfort and routine.

Concentrate: you can't have it all.

Energy and time are finite resources; conserving them is very important.

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.

Judgment is not my business. Existing is my business.

You may wonder which came first: the skill or the hard work. But that's a moot point. The Zen master cleans his own studio. So should you.