Word: tharpe
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Partita No. 2 in D minor for unaccompanied violin, the piece uses a cast of 36. Cascades of energy flow from couple to couple, wit and finesse point the steps, stretchy phrasing buffets the classical meter. The work not only rewards repeated viewing, but requires it; as usual with Tharp, there are at least two things going on simultaneously, complementing or teasing each other. What can be seen right away is how well she has taken six of A.B.T's best dancers, Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones, Martine van Hamel, Clark Tippet, Magali Messac and Robert La Fosse, burnished their...
...vaudeville flair so far has overshadowed the dramatic skill she has shown, notably in the full-length The Catherine Wheel (1981). But from now on she ought to be recognized as a major choreographer; indeed it can already be said that this is Twyla Tharp's year. Her troupe, now at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, is launched on a national tour featuring three of her jazz classics (Eight Jelly Rolls, Sue's Leg, Baker's Dozen) and some provocative new pieces that break away from the American nostalgia that is her specialty. Nine Sinatra Songs...
...ballet that really rang in Tharp's big season was Bach Partita, which American Ballet Theater is performing on its current tour. Despite some radical moves, it is a classical ballet that Petipa would recognize, and as such, it completes Tharp's range as a choreographer. She has nothing more to prove; the challenges now are the ones that she, a master, gives herself...
...Robbins for New York City Ballet. All of Broadway has its eye on this matchup of two tough-minded show-biz smoothies. So far Robbins has made only one suggestion: that the drop curtain be in the form of "His" and "Hers" bath towels. The sense of loss in Tharp's Fait Accompli has in part to do with the eventual prospect of retiring, and it will not be easy...
...parents' inspiration. Her mother, who trained to be a concert pianist, insisted on lessons in several instruments, musical theory, plus extras like baton twirling (there is a fine baton riff in The Bix Pieces). Her father owned drive-in movie theaters around Los Angeles, which provided Tharp with an open-air classroom in popular culture. But she also remembers the satisfaction of watching him building and repairing his property, "brick and mortar, step by step." That is how Twyla Tharp has constructed her career. Which brings us to her third great inspiration, George Balanchine. Unlike most people...