Dance Moves
TITAS taps legendary choreographer for milestone dance tour that starts in Dallas
A performing arts milestone event that has been years in the making will finally hit a Dallas stage this fall. Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp is celebrating her 50th anniversary in the dance profession in 2015, and Dallasites will get the first chance to see her latest creation when her Fiftieth Anniversary Tour launches at Winspear Opera House in the AT&T Performing Arts Center on September 18 and 19.
The event is being co-commissioned by TITAS Presents, the organization that has been bringing national arts groups to Dallas for more than 30 years. Tharp’s work also will mark the beginning of TITAS Presents’ 2015-2016 season.
This will be the first time since 2002 that Twyla Tharp has toured with a group of dancers.
To make it happen, TITAS joined forces with the Joyce Theater in New York City and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., who initiated the commissioning, as well as the Ravinia Festival Association/Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
The world premiere of the Fiftieth Anniversary Tour, which honors Tharp’s five decades of choreographing for stage, TV and film, will start in Dallas before heading out to at least 15 North American cities over 10 weeks. It will be the first time since 2002 that Tharp has toured with a group of dancers.
Tharp has done more than 160 works across a variety of media, for which she has been honored with a Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, a National Medal of the Arts, a Kennedy Center Honor and many others.
“This commissioning project has been years in the making,” said Charles Santos, executive and artistic director of TITAS Presents, in a release. “The national partnership and commissioning of an artist as important as Twyla Tharp, with the world premiere taking place here in Dallas, is enormously important for the missions of TITAS Presents, the AT&T Performing Arts Center and our city.”
Tickets for Tharp’s Fiftieth Anniversary Tour will go on sale closer to the performance dates. To stay up-to-date, go to attpac.org/on-sale/2015/twyla-tharp-dance/.
