Word: tharpe
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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This year's crop includes the usual eclectic mix of talent. There are scholars, like historians Suzanne Lebsock of Rutgers and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich of the University of New Hampshire. There are creative artists, among them choreographer Twyla Tharp. There are social activists, including Janet Benshoof, a campaigner for women's reproductive rights, and Unita Blackwell, a ^ small-town mayor and civil rights advocate. Oh, and there are some males, like Harvard philosopher Stanley Cavell. The winners get from $150,000 to $375,000 over five years (younger recipients get less money) to spend as they wish...
Morris' offstage performances have sometimes been as outrageous as his onstage productions. He first caused tongues to wag in 1984 when he jumped up in the middle of a performance of Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs and shouted his displeasure at the stage before walking out. "I think she's a great choreographer, but I hated that dance. It was horrible," he says now. "You know, a lot of people go along with things. But if I don't like something, I'm like 'Yech, come on, everybody, let's open our eyes.' " Morris provoked an eye-opener...
...work ends on a more serious note with an idea that seems close to Tharp. The last duet, she announces, is based on the principle of isometrics, "two equal forces from opposite directions . . . that combats earthquakes and other slippage." In the end she concludes, "If you're speaking of love, you really must include the element of uncertainty -- and perhaps it's best approached as the art of constant maintenance." That is sobering counsel for would-be participants in the sexual game, but it applies to choreographers as well. Tharp's current troupe is mostly new to her work...
More and more, however, Tharp is attracted to classical pointe work. Three of her dancers, Robert LaFosse, Stacy Caddell and Allison Brown, are from New York City Ballet. On opening night they appeared in Octet, a stringent black- and-white ballet set to an Edgar Meyer score. That was followed by a larky grand pas classique performed by Isabelle Guerin and Patrick Dupond, both visitors from the Paris Opera Ballet. Tharp says, "When I was a kid, toe dancing and toe shoes had a meaning in our culture as a serious kind of art." Perhaps that...
After New York City, Tharp's troupe will tour in Japan. Then comes a movie musical with James Brooks (Terms of Endearment). What next for the choreographer and her flock? Well, in addition to constant maintenance, there is also that element of uncertainty. Tharp seems to thrive...