Choreographer Twyla Tharp kicks off 50th anniversary tour in Chicago
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Twyla Tharp is a world-famous choreographer, and she's still making all the right moves after a half-century. The artist's 50th anniversary celebration kicks off at the Auditorium Theatre Thursday night.
Five decades of dance-making for both modern and ballet companies, Hollywood film and the Broadway stage: Twyla Tharp is acknowledging her half century of work with a 17-city 50th anniversary tour. Two new works will be performed at the Auditorium.
"The 50th anniversary seemed to me a wonderful opportunity, and in fact a responsibility to say OK, I started here in 1965. OK, it's 2015, where have I gotten, what have I learned, what can I do now that I couldn't do then," Tharp said.
Frank Sinatra has been a muse for Tharp. But during the 100th anniversary of his birth this year - can we expect more?
"No, no no, not another, no. There's nine Sinatra songs, there's Sinatra Suite, Come Fly Away, Come Fly With Me, no, not more right now, not yet, maybe if we both make it to 150!" Tharp said. "A great dancer has a great heart and that's end of story, it's a given that they are a technical wonder and they are committed to their body being maintained at the highest possible level. They all have the same intent, which is to communicate why it is they dance to a public."
ABC7's Janet Davies asks: "Is there any genre, any style you haven't incorporated yet?"
"If there is, show it to me, I'll use it. Look, am I a great tap dancer? No, I'm a terrible tap dancer. Am I a good ballroom dancer? No way, Am I a good ballet dancer? There were times I thought so," Tharp said.
This is just the beginning for Tharp.
"Here one has experiences and is a repository of information - it's a launching pad, folks, it's not a burial stone, it's a launching pad to get on with it, that's how I look at it. You worked 50 years to get here, now you start," she said.
Twyla Tharp's 50th anniversary tour is at the Auditorium Theatre Thursday night through Sunday afternoon.
