About the Foundation
Developing, treasuring, and preserving Twyla Tharp’s work.
The Twyla Tharp Dance Foundation is committed to creating, performing, and archiving Twyla Tharp’s body of work now and into the future.
It also trains and directs instructors who teach and remount the original dances for other Companies, as well as offering technique classes to help younger dancers welcome the challenges the Tharp repertory presents. Miss Tharp makes dances to strengthen dancers.
Our History
First incorporated in 1971, the Foundation has made it possible for Twyla Tharp to work in dance. A notoriously expensive art form, dance requires both performers and large spaces in order to develop its work. It also requires time to evolve new ways of moving and to train dancers in the skills necessary to accomplish movement never before seen.
Archive
The Foundation maintains an archive of materials including all of Twyla Tharp’s original notes and drawings since 1965. It also has an unparalleled video archive which documents Tharp’s improvisations and early performances since 1968. Mostly digitized, the collection occupies 65+ terabytes. This resource allows extremely accurate reconstruction of older works as well as providing a tool for teaching and lecturing. No longer need dance be the only art form without an artifact.
Live Performances
The Foundation supports all elements required for live performances. It mounts the dances for theaters and other spaces, working with collaborative artists from musicians to technicians and designers of light, wardrobe and sets. It oversees the promotion of tours and works on bookings. It commissions new scores. It coordinates activities with presenters and educators to reach as broad an audience as possible, with work from the repertory as well as new creations. Its tours engage audiences with lectures and classes for local students. It has overseen the presentation of over 180 dances from Eight Jelly Rolls in 1972 to Slacktide in 2025 in thousands of performances for hundreds of thousands of people.
Acknowledgments
Our heartfelt thanks to so very many individuals and institutions who have supported our work since 1965. Without whom, the job would not get done.
We are deeply grateful to the following sponsors and patrons for the ongoing support of the Foundations activities: Jay Franke and David Herro, Jody and John Arnhold, Valerie and Chuck Diker, Peter and Sarah Finn, Sarah Hoover, Bill Miller, James Nederlander Jr., Patsy and Jeff Tarr, Stephen and Cathy Weinroth, and Vicente Wolf.
Our gratitude to the team who made this website possible for their care, creativity, and patience: Peter Finn, Kyra Zelem, Lee Baillie, Erica Mikrut, Mohammed Sabil, Solomon Gorkhover, and Allison Costa.
