Sue's Leg
Rawe, Tharp, Wright and Rinker perform at the St. Paul Civic Center in 1975. Photo by Tom Berthiaume.
Tharp, Wright, Rawe and Rinker perform at Town Hall in New York City.
From left to right, front to back: Rawe, Tharp, Rinker, and Wright performing at the St. Paul Civic Center in 1975. Photo by Bill Davis.
From left to right: Rawe, Wright, and Rinker performing at the St. Paul Civic Center in 1975. Photo by Bill Davis.
Premiere
Production
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Choreographer
Twyla Tharp
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Music by
Fats Waller
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Lighting Designer
Jennifer Tipton
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Costume Designer
Santo Loquasto
Dancers
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Number of Dancers
4
Dance Sections
I. Please Take Me Out of Jail
Tharp, Wright, Rawe, Rinker
II. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Tharp, Wright, Rawe, Rinker
III. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Tharp
IV. Fat and Greasy
Wright, Rawe, Rinker
V. Tea For Two
Tharp, Wright, Rawe, Rinker
VI. Ain’t Misbehavin’
Tharp
VII. I’m Livin’ in a Great Big Way
Tharp, Wright, Rawe, Rinker
VIII. In the Gloaming
Tharp, Wright, Rawe, Rinker
IX. I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed
Tharp, Wright, Rawe, Rinker
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Runtime
00:24:16
Description
Sue’s Leg is named for and dedicated to Sue Weil, who sponsored the company’s residencies at the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota. The dance was built during one of these residencies over the course of a month. All rehearsals were open to the public free of charge for the entire creation and rehearsal process.
Risky partnering and complex counterbalances enhance the theatrical tension in the movement vocabulary. The illusion of the dancers’ unconcerned attitude is heightened by the technical difficulty in Tharp’s choreography.
On the night of the premiere, the dance was performed twice: once to open the show and again to close it. The first performance was fully produced with lights and costumes, which are exact replicas of the dancers’ own rehearsal clothes but in rich fabrics. The second performance was presented in the original rehearsal clothes under work lights. Presenting the work twice served to lay bare the choreography, outside of the theatrical elements of lights and costume.
From the original program: “Sue’s Leg, to music by Fats Waller, was written in New York City from November 5 to December 20, 1974. It is dedicated to Suzanne Weil”
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Commissioned by
Past Performances
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sue's Leg (premiere) – The Double Cross (premiere) | Twyla Tharp Dance
St. Paul, MN
February 21 1975 Premiere
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sue's Leg – The Double Cross | Twyla Tharp Dance
Delaware, OH
February 28 1975 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sue's Leg – Double Cross – Bach Duet | Twyla Tharp Dance
Town Hall
New York, NY
April 9 1975 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sue's Leg – The One Hundreds – Bach Duet – Ocean's Motion | Twyla Tharp Dance
New London, CT
July 11 1975 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sue's Leg – Bach Duet – The Rags Suite (premiere) – Ocean's Motion | Twyla Tharp Dance
Municipal Auditorium
Austin, TX
September 10 1975 Premiere
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sues Leg – Bach Duet – The Rags Suite – Ocean's Motion – The Fugue | Twyla Tharp Dance
Fort Worth Art Museum
Fort Worth, TX
September 13 1975 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sues Leg – Bach Duet – The Rags Suite – Ocean's Motion – The Fugue | Twyla Tharp Dance
San Antonio Ballet Society
San Antonio, TX
September 20 1975 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Give and Take – The Rags Suite – Bach Duet – Sue's Leg | Twyla Tharp Dance
Brooklyn, NY
March 27 1976 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Give and Take – The Rags Suite – Sue's Leg – Bach Duet | Twyla Tharp Dance
Edinburgh, Scotland
September 4 1976 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Country Dances – From Hither and Yon – Sue's Leg | Twyla Tharp Dance
Tampa, FL
October 2 1976 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Country Dances – Cacklin' Hen – The One Hundreds – Sue's Leg | Twyla Tharp Dance
Brooklyn, NY
May 13 1977 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sue's Leg – Simon Medley – Country Dances – Cacklin' Hen | Twyla Tharp Dance
Highland Park, IL
July 25 1977 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Country Dances – The Fugue – Sue's Leg | Twyla Tharp Dance
Becket, MA
August 2 1977 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Chapters And Verses (premiere) – 1903 (premier) – The Fugue – Sue's Leg | Twyla Tharp Dance
Hartford, CT
February 2 1979 Premiere
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sue's Leg – The Fugue – Three Dances From The Film ""Hair" – Chapters And Verses |Twyla Tharp Dance
Brooklyn, NY
February 17 1979 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Country Dances – Brahms Paganini – Sue's Leg | Twyla Tharp Dance
Saratoga Springs, NY
July 28 1980 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Bad Smells (premiere) – Nine Sinatra Songs (premiere) – Sues Leg | Twyla Tharp Dance
Vancouver, Canada
October 15 1982 Premiere
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sues Leg – Telemann – Nine Sinatra Songs | Twyla Tharp Dance
Austin, TX
November 8 1983 TTD Performance
Twyla Tharp Dance
Sues Leg – Baker's Dozen – Nine Sinatra Songs | Twyla Tharp Dance
Chicago, IL
February 26 1984 TTD Performance
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Sue's Leg | Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Chicago, IL
September 1 1990 Repertory
- 1975
- 1976
- 1977
- 1979
- 1980
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- 1990
- 2009