Sublime

THE CREATIVE HABIT * * * I begin each day of my life with a ritual. This is the renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp from her indispensable book, The Creative Habit.

Twyla Tharp is one of the most celebrated, inventive dance choreographers in modern times. Her body of work is made up of more than 160 pieces, including 129 dances, twelve television specials, six major Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows, and two figure-skating routines. Dance might seem like the creative medium that c

The other half of the program, Tharp intentionally leaves a mystery until she arrives. She doesn’t plan what music she’ll be using or which dancers she’ll be working with. She won’t even think about the lighting or costumes until she arrives. The large white room will become her motivation to create something brand new.

Tharp calls her approach “the box.” Every time she begins a new project, she takes out a foldable file box and labels it with the name of the project,

Twyla Tharp talks about having a physical box for every project. That way, as you research and think about the project, you can add things to the box as you go: notes you write yourself, newspaper clippings that inspire you about the project, etc.

Dance is for all who desire to move expressively, with rhythm, or in the spirit of the moment. Dance is global and primal, not just for those who train to perform on stage. As somatic innovator Gabrielle Roth liked to say: “If you have a body, you are a dancer.”