Twyla Tharp

Twyla Tharp (choreographer/artistic director), since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, has choreographed more than 169 works: 129 dances, 12 television specials, six Hollywood films, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows, and two figure skating routines. She has received a Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, 19 honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President’s Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor. Her many grants include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Today, ballet and dance companies around the world continue to perform Tharp’s works. In 1992, she published her autobiography Push Comes to Shove. She went on to write The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life, followed by The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together. In 2019, her fourth book was published, Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life. Today, Tharp continues to create.