Twyla Tharp Quotes - Page 6

Later in life, one of the compensations is gliding effortlessly into focus in a thing. Since it is who we are, anything that is not the focus or supportive thereof is just not us. Even outside issues, when they arise, are interesting in that they only help define the focus more clearly.

Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits. That's it in a nutshell ... In order to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative.

Energy and time are finite resources; conserving them is very important.

We get into ruts when we run with the first idea that pops into our head, not the last one.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

One clear difference between art and commercial work is that commercial work is exploitive: the work may be high quality but the intention is to sell product or tickets. Art exists with or without ticket sales.

Men and women are very different athletes, and frankly, I didn't want to deal with the male potential.

I think a sense of humor will help get a girl out of a dark place.

The way I enjoyed spending time most was dancing. That's from the time I was a very small child, When I was 4 or 5 years old, I remember already having a regime. It was the way I always identified myself.

In the future, I will make certain that I commit to projects so there's enough breathing space for me to have an emotional life.

I'm willing to be regarded as a tyrant to keep my vision intact.

In creative endeavors luck is a skill.

I think of music as fuel, its spectrum of energy governed by tempi, volume, and heart.

I began to discriminate between fear and excitement. The two, though very close, are completely different. Fear is negative excitement, choking your imagination. Real excitement produces an energy that overcomes apprehension and makes you want to close in on your goal.

My mother was the first woman in the county in Indiana where we were born, in Jay County, to have a college degree. She was educated as a pianist and she wanted to concertize, but when the war came she was married, had a family, so she started teaching.

Miloš Forman is a great director; Jim Brooks is a wonderful writer and director.

Playwrights have texts, composers have scores, painters and sculptors have the residue of those activities, and dance is traditionally an ephemeral, effervescent, here-today-gone-tomorrow kind of thing.

Over time, as the daily routines become second nature, discipline morphs into habit.

Limits are a secret blessing, and bounty can be a curse.

A tough manager will have realistic quotas for his employees that he keeps to himself and aggressively stretch quotas, anywhere from ten percent higher to a lot more, which he imposes on his staff. If his people miss the stretch numbers but exceed the realistic goals, he's happy. If he's a superb manager, he knows how far they can stretch without breaking.

I have a sort of tactility about music. I go into record stores and just run my fingers over it, the spines.

I don't mean this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't really think of pop art and serious art as being that far apart.

I have not wanted to intimidate audiences. I have not wanted my dancing to be an elitist form. That doesn't mean I haven't wanted it to be excellent.

I think Tolstoy had an unbelievably complicated relationship with women.

I walk into a large white room. It's a dance studio in midtown Manhattan. The room is clean, virtually spotless if you don’t count the thousands of skid marks and footprints left there by dancers rehearsing. Other than the mirrors, the boom box, the skid marks, and me, the room is empty.