Push Comes to Shove: An Autobiography [Hardcover]

Twyla Tharp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1992

The well-known choreographer chronicles her life and career, describing her childhood, her training in music and classical ballet, the influence of the avant-garde climate of New York in the 1960s on her choreography, and more. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The wit and drive of Tharp's dances also feed her life story, which she tells here with a cool ebullience. Born in rural Indiana, she and her family moved to Southern California, where, still a child, she began studying dance with a visionary fanaticism that also grips her narrative. The book is sometimes very funny--George Balanchine makes an appearance as the Loch Ness monster in one of Tharp's dreams--but it is also earnest as Tharp describes her efforts to make her mark on the seminal modern dance scene of New York City in the 1960s. Tharp tells of her difficult marriage to painter Bob Huot and, elliptically, of their son; documents the life of her dance company; candidly confronts the failure of her production of Singin' in the Rain ; and considers most, though not all, of her dances. A few false notes include fulsome thanks paid to patrons and supporters and an overdetermined finale ("Finally I can feel that my attempts to discover truth through objective distance have linked up with my gut"). Photos not seen by PW. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Dance aficionados have the chance to hear directly from Tharp, a dynamo of inventive pop choreography, regarding her artistic development and personal life. Chapters devoted to the creation of her stunning dances, "Deuce Coupe" and "Push Comes to Shove" are exhilarating. She depicts a life born of a fascinating mix of Quaker roots and an ambitious mother. Along with her sheer talent, Tharp's tough, gutsy determination enabled astonishing breakthroughs in dance but also masked a touchy insecurity that made her difficult to know. She relates startling anecdotes of unfair demands she made on friends and dancers, whose names read like a Who's Who of the art world. But such harsh self-disclosures make it apparent that she has learned from living. The book ends with a chronology of her work from 1965 to 1992. Essential for performing arts and dance collections.
- Sheila Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First edition (November 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553073060
• ISBN-13: 978-0553073065
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Twyla Tharp, one of America's greatest choreographers, began her career in 1965, and has created more than 130 dances for her company as well as for the Joffrey Ballet, The New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, London's Royal Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. She has won two Emmy awards for television's Baryshnikov by Tharp, and a Tony Award for the Broadway musical Movin' Out. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1993 and was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1997. She lives and works in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dancer Bio, January 3, 2007

By 

Andromeda (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Push Comes to Shove: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

A great read. What can I say. Parts of it are a little dry, but Ms. Tharp writes well enough that we can see her thoughts. There are some nice memories of her past, too.