Joyce Theater Foundation Selects Twyla Tharp as 2014-2016 Artist-in-Residence

Linda Shelton, Executive Director of The Joyce Theater Foundation, today announced that The Joyce has selected world-renowned, award-winning choreographer Twyla Tharp as its Artist-in-Residence. This initiative is part of a generous grant to The Joyce, received in June 2012, from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The appointment will provide a free rehearsal studio, administrative space, office services, and an annual salary with benefits for a two-year period. This residency was designed to allow choreographers to focus on artistic efforts and to establish a daily choreographic practice while also infusing the Joyce's operations with their ongoing insights. In recognition of this opportunity, open company classes will be offered each weekday from 10:30am - 12pm beginning October 1 at DANY Studios, which The Joyce Theater operates. The classes will be taught by Tharp Ballet Masters and Dancers Rika Okamoto, Alexander Brady, Mathew Dibble and John Selya. Each class is $17. Visit www.TwylaTharp.org for more information.

Upon this announcement, Executive Director of The Joyce Theater Linda Shelton said today, "I am extremely grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for making it possible for The Joyce to support Twyla Tharp as she celebrates her 50th anniversary of creating work, and I look forward to experiencing more from this wonderfully exciting and accomplished artist."

Ms. Tharp says, "I am very grateful to The Joyce Theater for the secure home in New York City. I look forward to offering daily classes to the public and conducting rehearsals on a consistent basis."

Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Twyla Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines. She received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, nineteen honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President's Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor. Her many grants include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In 1965, Ms. Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. Her dances are known for creativity, wit and technical precision coupled with a streetwise nonchalance. By combining different forms of movement - such as jazz, ballet, boxing and inventions of her own making - Ms. Tharp's work expands the boundaries of ballet and modern dance.

In addition to choreographing for her own company, she has created dances for The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Boston Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Today, ballet and dance companies around the world continue to perform Ms. Tharp's works.

Ms. Tharp's work first appeared on Broadway in 1980 with WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG, followed by her collaboration with musician David Byrne on THE CATHERINE WHEEL and later by SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. In 2002, Ms. Tharp's dance musical MOVIN' OUT, set to the music and lyrics of Billy Joel. Ms. Tharp later worked with Bob Dylan's music and lyrics in THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' and COME FLY AWAY, set to songs sung by Frank Sinatra.

In film, Ms. Tharp has collaborated with director Milos Forman on HAIR, RAGTIME and AMADEUS. She has also worked with Taylor Hackford on WHITE NIGHTS and James Brooks on I'LL DO ANYTHING.

Her television credits include choreographing SUE'S LEG for the inaugural episode of PBS' DANCE IN AMERICA IN 1976, co-producing and directing MAKING TELEVISION DANCE, and directing THE CATHERINE WHEEL for BBC Television. Ms. Tharp co-directed the television special BARYSHNIKOV BY THARP.

In 1992, Ms. Tharp published her autobiography PUSH COMES TO SHOVE. She went on to write THE CREATIVE HABIT: Learn it and Use it for Life, followed by THE COLLABORATIVE HABIT: Life Lessons for Working Together.

Today, Ms. Tharp continues to create.

THE JOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION, INC., a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community and its audiences for three decades. The founders, Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, acquired and renovated the Elgin Theater in Chelsea, which opened as The Joyce Theater in 1982. The Joyce Theater is named in honor of Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther's clear, undaunted vision and abundant generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. One of the only theaters built by dancers for dance, The Joyce Theater has provided an intimate and elegant home for more than 320 domestic and international companies. The Joyce has also commissioned more than 130 new dances since 1992. In 2009, The Joyce opened Dance Art New York (DANY) Studios to provide affordable studios for rehearsals, auditions, classes, and workshops for independent choreographers, non-profit dance companies, and the dance/theater communities. New York City public school students and teachers annually benefit from The Joyce's Dance Education Program, and adult audiences get closer to dance through informative Dance Talks, and post-performance Dance Chat discussions. The Joyce Theater now features an annual season of approximately 48 weeks with over 340 performances for audiences in excess of 135,000.