Customer Reviews

Push Comes to Shove

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to be an artist. If you ever had aspirations (or illusions) of being an artist, you should read this book. Not only is it a fascinating history of post-war modern dance, explaining the genius of Ballanchine and others, but it is an honest portrait of the pain and sacrifice that Tharp and others make to pursue their visions. You get to know that NYC scene of the 1960s and beyond in intimate and unflinching detail.

Tharp is a true original, self-made from the bottom up. You really get a feeling for the relentless drive, the long hours of work and experimentation, and the love that drive this artist to create. (At one point, she recounts the stress imposed on her upstate NY house of a dance troupe in its attic!) It offers both great advice and a cautionary tale. I learned an immense amount from this book at a moment - the mid-life crisis if you will - when I was reassessing my life course.

By turns funny and sad, this is truly great autobiography. Warmly recommended.

I don't know much about modern dance; I discovered this book staying up late one night and seeing Tharp interviewed by Tom Snyder- which was pretty interesting in and of itself.

I was impressed enough by the interview to buy the book, and I was not disappointed. Tharp is a remarkably engaging speaker and writer, and she is completely open about her life, while avoiding the temptation to self-pity or self-aggrandizemnt typical of celebrity biography.

Strongly recommended, both for fans of dance and fans of autobiography.

Twyla Tharp never disappoints with her choreography, and she doesn't disappoint here, either. She's written a marvelous book about her interesting life and the hard choices she made to make the dance her life. A must for all dancers, would-be dancers, and anyone who loves a good life-tale.

I found Twyla's "Push Comes To Shove" to be all-consuming. This book really gives an honest insight of the modern dance world and into the life of one of the greatest self-made Modern Dance Choreographers to date. Twyla's "No holds barred attitude" about life, relationships, and dance is intriguing and exhilerating. This autobiography is a dance in itself...beautifully crafted, eloquently stated, and honest-honest-honest. what else could you ask for?

this was a great book, i am a dancer and loved it. I learned so much about what it is to be a professional dancer. Twyla Tharp was one of the leading ladies now dance who actually knows how to choregraphs modren . Her different styles make her one of the greatest!

Pretentious and full of herself. Sounds so much like the talentless "avant garde" who do not have the discipline for classical training, but want to pronounce all others as inferior for failing to catch their "vision". I'll quote my son: "Just shut up and make it pretty."