I'm a known reader. That's what I do with my time. Twyla Tharp More Quotes by Twyla Tharp More Quotes From Twyla Tharp Art is an investigation. Twyla Tharp investigation art-is art A lot of people insisted on a wall between modern dance and ballet, that the two disciplines were totally separate, and if you did one, you couldn’t do the other. I’m beginning to think that walls are very unhealthy things. Twyla Tharp wall dance thinking 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 done real way 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 baseball play sports I think that anyone who's pushed to do the very best that they can is privileged. It's a luxury. Twyla Tharp privileged luxury thinking The only thing I fear more than change is no change. The business of being static makes me nuts. Twyla Tharp innovation creativity nuts There's a paradox in the notion that creativity should be a habit. We think of creativity as a way of keeping everything fresh and new, while habit implies routine and repetition. That paradox intrigues me because it occupies the place where creativity and skill rub up against each other. Twyla Tharp creativity inspirational thinking I also had a will that let me eliminate everything that stood in the way of my becoming the best dancer I could be. By a gradual process... (I) had invested every bit of my dreams, my hopes, my energies in defining myself as a dancer. Twyla Tharp becoming-the-best dance dream I had received my first establishment grants in response to applications filed the year before. To the pages of baffling forms I had simply attached a handwritten note saying, 'I make dances, not applications. Send the money. Love, Twyla. Twyla Tharp pages years firsts Dance has never been a particularly easy life, and everybody knows that. Twyla Tharp easy-life dance easy The irony of multitasking is that it's exhausting: when you're doing two or three things simultaneously, you use more energy than the sum of energy required to do each task independently. You're also cheating yourself because your're not doing anything excellently. You're compromising your virtuosity. In the words of T. S. Elliot, you're 'distracted from distractions by distractions'. Twyla Tharp energy two cheating Whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources. Twyla Tharp neurosis wish giving Creativity is an act of defiance. Twyla Tharp creativity writing art Usually kids who are talented have the brashness to think they can do anything, but they don't often get the chance to see how close they can come. Twyla Tharp dance kids thinking 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 issues feelings needs You only need one good reason to commit to an idea, not four hundred. But if you have four hundred reasons to say yes and one reason to say no, the answer is probably no. Twyla Tharp answers ideas needs I have the wherewithal to challenge myself for my entire life. That's a great gift. Twyla Tharp great-gifts challenges It's vital to establish some rituals-automatic but decisive patterns of behavior-at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way. Twyla Tharp patterns giving-up creative Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft. Twyla Tharp passion skills world Solitude is an unavoidable part of creativity. Self-reliance is a happy by-product. Twyla Tharp creativity solitude self