Twyla Tharp has long been a master of translating American pop music into modern dance movement. Starting in 1965, Twyla pioneered modern dance choreography set to music heard most often on transistor radios, giving pop a fresh expression. To show you just how hip and maverick Twyla was early on, two years out of college in 1965 she formed Twyla Tharp Dance, her own dance company, and performed her first original work—Tank Dive, a piece lasting around 7 minutes set to Petula Clark's Downtown. Mind you, the Beatles' Rubber Soul hadn't even been released yet. [Photo above of Twyla Tharp in the dance studio of her Manhattan penthouse by Chris Sorensen for The Wall Street Journal]
Twyla and I became fast friends after my interview with her for The Wall Street Journal in 2019 (go here). In addition to being a JazzWax reader, she is a wonderful tea host. We get together twice a year at her place to sip and chat. She's straightforward, curious, passionate about music and art, lives for dance and choreography, and has more energy than a logging camp. Her work ethic is powerful and her analytic thought process is fascinating. [Photo above of Twyla Tharp]
Twyla has choreographed more than 150 works, many of which combine classical, jazz and pop music. She has won a Tony and an Emmy and has danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov (who, incidentally, performed One More Frank in 1976, Twyla's first Sinatra adaptation). She has been awarded the National Medal of Arts (2004), was honored by the Kennedy Center (2008) and there are about three dozen other prestigious awards too numerous to mention here. [Photo above of Twyla Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov by Judie Burstein]
Now you're in luck. If you're in New York next month, two of her works will be performed at the New York City Center—Nine Sinatra Songs and In the Upper Room. The performances will run from October 19 to 23. Best of all, Twyla will be there at each performance. But hurry and buy your tickets. They're going fast. For more information and to buy tickets online, go here.
Recently, I caught up with the tireless Twyla by email:
JazzWax: Excited about the upcoming performances of your choreographed ballads, In the Upper Room and Nine Sinatra Songs?
Twyla Tharp: I am. Nine Sinatra Songs was first performed in Vancouver in 1982. Since then, it has been performed hundreds of times by many groups, globally. I have never changed the songs, but for the New York City Center performance, I’m considering altering the very last exit of the final couple in My Way.
JW: Why?
TT: As a contemporary nod to female rights and power. The ballet was created immediately following principal photography in the Czech Republic of the movie, Amadeus—for which I staged the opera scenes—and is a study of the conditions of couples in love. It's modeled on my parents’ relationship.
JW: Was Philip Glass thrilled to hear about the upcoming performance of your 1986 collaboration with him on In the Upper Room?
TT: I don’t know Philip as well as I know his music, which I’ve been listening to and working with in the studio since he has been writing it.
JW: You two go back, yes?
TT: We do. We lived in the same Tribeca loft area in downtown Manhattan in the 1960’s. Composer La Monte Young and his wife, multimedia artist Marian Zazeela, lived diagonally across Church Street from my dance studio. Back then, minimalist composer Terry Riley was the man down there. Philip’s music gave a huge push to movement. Dancers’ bodies just wanted to go.
JW: What made you choose these particular nine Sinatra songs?
TT: The songs—Softly As I Leave You, Strangers in the Night, One for My Baby (and One More for the Road), My Way, Somethin' Stupid, All the Way, Forget Domani, That's Life and My Way again—were selected to create a theatrical progression of an intimate relationship, from infatuation to stability. They needed to complement one another, both musically and linguistically. My passion for pop comes from my mother, a classical musician with a love for Tin Pan Alley. Frank Sinatra was her favorite pop vocalist. In listening to these songs thousands of times, I’ve found that the appeal for me isn't only Sinatra’s musical sophistication but also his chops as an actor. That's what retains my interest.
JW: Tough to choose pop songs for a ballet?
TT: Selecting and arranging a suite of pop songs—whether for a dance or a show—is the equivalent of an acrostic puzzle. The songs must simultaneously satisfy requirements in several different directions—melodically, rhythmically and dramatically.
JW: How do you want audiences to take in these performances—as music to be heard or as a visual interpretation?
TT: Both, together. Music and dance join in making a single impact—this is their theatrical power. In the Upper Room is a statement of endurance. Nine Sinatra Songs bespeaks our capacity for relationships.
JazzWax clips: Here's the trailer for a PBS "American Masters" documentary on Twyla called Twyla Moves...
Here's a quick Nine Sinatra Songs teaser from New York City Center...
Here's a performance of That's Life...
Here's a teaser for In the Upper Room...
And here's a fascinating clip from the "American Masters" documentary on Twyla and Baryshnikov...
