Twyla Tharp, whose name dependably appears in any roster of America’s greatest choreographers, released The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life in 2003. Tharp has been choreographing dance since 1965 and her body of work includes choreography for her own Broadway work on “Movin’ Out,” but before that she worked on well known films such as “Hair” and “Amadeus.” “Movin’ Out” earned Twyla Tharp a Tony Award in 2003 and she has been honored with nearly every accolade imaginable including numerous honorary doctorates and a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship also known as a “genius grant.”
Staying Relevant as a Creative
How has she remained a vital member of dance’s creative community for nearly 60 years? In The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp tells the reader many of the secret ingredients she uses to generate her work in an up close, detailed look at the creative process of an honest-to-goodness artist who isn’t starving. A great deal of her personality comes through in this guide. Hers is a very patrician, disciplined perspective.
Did You Know?
A couple of things about Twyla Tharp: She is a heat-seeking being and her routine must be legendary. For example, she kept her studio spaces very warm long before hot yoga was a thing, and she rises early because the first thing she does every morning is take a cab to a gym where she does Pilates for two hours. After her workout she has a breakfast of three hard-boiled eggs and black coffee. Discipline! Routine! Willpower! Yes! But Tharp says the key to this habit is catching the cab. She admits that the basis of her signature choreography and creative risks are these and other seemingly mundane habits, but these habits ground her as she fully immerses herself into the work of creating.
Self-Knowledge
The importance of knowing one’s self is one piece of advice Tharp presents in this guide. For better or worse, she tells us to face fears and get to know ourselves and then push our strengths and talents to their limits. She admiringly analyzes the work of the late playwright Neil Simon who she calls “a paragon of habitual creativity.” Simon, Tharp says, was highly skilled in creating comedy and cleverly found natural ingress for heavier themes through his comedic works. “Simon had a good sense of who he was and how far he could venture beyond his comfort zone.” There was a marked developmental shift in his work after he began to explore these themes.
Read It or Shelve It?
Overall, the book was good. Twyla Tharp is an artist who has spent a lifetime creating a body of respected work. I am glad I read it. However, though it doesn’t merit a spot on a list of challenged books, I caution you that in one passage, she uses a slur to express the feeling of outrage of being shortchanged. She came of age at a time when such a phrase was not impolitic. Heck, I came of age at a time when such a phrase was very commonplace. The book was published fifteen years ago. We all know better and do better now–we hope.
I enjoyed getting a deep dive into her process. For anyone who is looking to get out of a rut or add more playfulness to their life, I would recommend this book. And as I sit squarely in midlife, I am hungry for reassurance that women can have plenty to say and contribute beyond youth! But what I liked is that she emphasizes the role of the inner journey in creativity. Be it cooking, painting, whatever; Tharp urges you to get to the page, the stage, the spreadsheet. But you have to get in there to get out there.
Quotes from Twyla Tharp
Here are my favorite quotes from the book:
“A groove is the best place in the world.. . .when you’re in it you have freedom to explore.. .everything.”
“Honey, it’s all been done before. Nothing’s really original. Not Homer or Shakespeare and certainly not you. Get over yourself.”
Please comment below to tell me what you think!
Photo by WorkingKind via Morguefile