Tony-nominated choreographer and director Twyla Tharp, whose hit dance musical with Billy Joel, "Movin' Out," is currently playing on Broadway, will be the speaker for the North Carolina School of the Arts' 38th commencement on May 31.
The ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. at NCSA's Stevens Center in downtown Winston-Salem. Approximately 285 college and high school students are expected to graduate with degrees, diplomas and certificates in dance, design & production, drama, filmmaking, music, and visual arts.
"We are extremely fortunate that Twyla Tharp is able to take time from her busy schedule to be our commencement speaker on May 31," said North Carolina School of the Arts Chancellor Wade Hobgood. "It is wonderful that our graduating seniors can hear from such a distinguished role model as they embark on their careers in the arts. What a terrific opportunity for them."
One of today's most innovative and popular modern choreographers, Twyla Tharp has created more than 125 dances, choreographed five Hollywood movies, choreographed and directed two Broadway shows, and written an autobiography. She has also received two Emmy Awards, 17 honorary doctorates and numerous grants including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. Her choreography is known for its technical brilliance with touches of humor.
Twyla Tharp also has several connections to NCSA. She was the NCSA School of Dance's Lucia Chase Fellow for 2001, allowing her "Deuce Coupe" to be set on NCSA students and members of the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. In addition, NCSA dance alumni Benjamin Bowman and Keith Roberts, members of Twyla Tharp Dance, are both currently in her Broadway hit "Movin' Out," along with NCSA dance alumni Holly Cruikshank and John J. Todd. Roberts is one of the 10 Tony Award nominations just announced for the show; he is nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
In 1963, Tharp graduated from Barnard College and joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company. In 1965, she began assembling a group of dancers, which eventually became Twyla Tharp Dance. In 1988, Twyla Tharp Dance merged with American Ballet Theatre where Tharp held the position of associate artistic director for two years and created more than a dozen works.
Since that time she has choreographed dances for many companies including: the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Among her best-known dances are: "Tank Dive," her first piece; "The Fugue"; "The One Hundreds"; "Eight Jelly Rolls," to the music of Jelly Roll Morton; "The Bix Pieces," to the music of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra and Thelonious Monk; "Deuce Coupe" for the Joffrey Ballet, to music by the Beach Boys; "Sue's Leg," created in-residence at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; "Bach Partita"; "Push Comes to Shove," widely known as a vehicle for Mikhail Baryshnikov; "Baker's Dozen," to the music of Willie "The Lion" Smith; "Nine Sinatra Songs"; "In the Upper Room," a collaboration with Philip Glass; "Brief Fling"; "Bum's Rush"; three major works to music by Beethoven -- "Diabelli Variations," "Hammerklavier" and "The Seventh Symphony"; and three dances set to variations by Brahms: the "Paganini," the "Handel" (with Jerome Robbins), and most recently, the "Haydn." The casts of these works often included NCSA School of Dance alumni.
Tharp took modern dance to Broadway in 1980 with "When We Were Very Young"; in the 1981 collaboration with David Byrne, "The Catherine Wheel" at the Winter Garden; and her 1985 staging of "Singin' in the Rain," which played at the Gershwin for 367 performances, followed by an extensive national tour.
In film, Tharp has collaborated with directors Milos Forman on HAIR (1978), RAGTIME (1980) and AMADEUS (1984), which stars NCSA alumnus Tom Hulce; with Taylor Hackford on WHITE NIGHTS (1985); and with James Brooks on I'LL DO ANYTHING (1994).
Her television credits include choreographing "Sue's Leg" for the inaugural episode of PBS' "Dance in America"; co-producing and directing "Making Television Dance," which won the Chicago International Film Festival Award; and directing "The Catherine Wheel" for BBC Television. Tharp co-directed the television special "Baryshnikov by Tharp," which won two Emmy Awards as well as the Director's Guild of America Award for Outstanding Director Achievement.
Tharp has held an honorary distinguished professorship at Hunter College, and in 1991 was invited to become an artist-in-residence at the Wexner Center at Ohio State University. The first year resulted in four new works: "The Men's Piece," "Grand Pas: Rhythm of the Saints," "Octet" and "Sextet," all of which were incorporated into her 1992 New York season at City Center. That same year she created a full-length program with her company and Mikhail Baryshnikov called "Cutting Up," which went on to become one of contemporary dance's most successful tours, appearing in 28 cities over a two-month period.
In 1992, Tharp published her autobiography, "Push Comes to Shove." She is currently working on a second book, on the creative process, to be published by Simon and Schuster. In 1993, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1997 she was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
In 1999, Tharp regrouped her company, Twyla Tharp Dance, and has been touring internationally to critical acclaim, performing a repertoire of popular favorites and new works such as "Surfer at the River Styx," "Mozart Clarinet Quintet K. 581" and "Westerly Round."
An arts conservatory of international renown, the North Carolina School of the Arts was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, NCSA became part of the University of North Carolina in 1972. For more information, visit the School's website at www.ncarts.edu.
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