Twyla Tharp's 50th Anniversary Tour to Stop at AT&T Performing Arts Center This Fall

TITAS Presents, in association with the AT&T Performing Arts Center, proudly announced today that it is co-commissioning an evening of new work by Twyla Tharp, one of the most important and influential choreographers of our time. The work will premiere in Dallas at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House on September 18 and 19, launching Tharp's Fiftieth Anniversary Tour. The 10-week North American tour will celebrate Tharp's five decades of dance-making for both modern and ballet companies, television, the Broadway stage and Hollywood films.

The commissioning of new work by Twyla Tharp marks an important collaboration between Dallas nonprofits TITAS Presents/AT&T Performing Arts Center and four other leading dance presenters/performing arts centers across the United States. The Fiftieth Anniversary Tour will be the first time since 2002 that Tharp has toured a group of dancers. Twyla Tharp Dance is comprised of 12 dancers, many of whom have worked with Tharp over the years. The music for the new dances was composed by J.S. Bach, Henry Butler, Steve Bernstein, and John Zorn.

"This commissioning project has been years in the making. 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 Center and our city. We are establishing, internationally, our commitment to fostering new works and that the city of Dallas is committed to the arts," said Charles Santos, Executive and Artistic Director of TITAS Presents.

TITAS, under the leadership of Charles Santos, has a long history of commissioning new works by such choreographers as Twyla Tharp, Mia Michaels, Dwight Rhoden, Jessica Lang, Adam Hougland and locally, Bruce Wood, Bridgett Moore, Ben Stevenson, Lily Weiss and Kitty Carter.

"There is a reason Twyla Tharp is called a legend: her creative engine never stops producing exciting and landmark works," said Doug Curtis, president and CEO of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. "This premiere and commission, alongside the premieres of our resident companies, is a testament to the Center's commitment to supporting artists and the creative process."

The Joyce Theater in New York City and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, initiated the commissioning of the evening. Besides TITAS Presents/AT&T Performing Arts Center, the other members of the consortium include the Ravinia Festival Association/Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. The tour will also include stops in over 15 cities (venues and locations to be announced at a later date).

The Fiftieth Anniversary Tour will open the TITAS Presents 2015/2016 Season. Ticket information is forthcoming. Visit www.attpac.org/twyla for developing details.

Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Ms. Tharp has choreographed more than 160 works: 129 dances, 12 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, 19 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, premiered on Broadway. 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 PBSs' 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.

TITAS Presents, led by Executive Director/Artistic Director Charles Santos, is North Texas' foremost presenter of high culture performance art. TITAS Presents has been presenting dance and music in Dallas for 30 years, consistently showcasing artistic excellence and innovative programming from around the world. TITAS has presented over 500 performances with artists from more than 59 countries with over 150 debut events. Through the Neiman Marcus CROSSROADS Educational Outreach program, TITAS Presents has organized well over 600 educational outreach events that include master classes, lecture/demonstrations, artists-in-residencies and post- performance Q&A sessions reaching thousands of audience members. Now in partnership with the AT&T Performing Arts Center, TITAS Presents brings its eclectic and innovative mix of contemporary dance and music to the Dallas Arts District.

The AT&T Performing Arts Center is a nonprofit foundation that operates and programs three premier performance venues and a 10-acre park for music, opera, theatre and dance in the heart of downtown Dallas. Opened in October 2009, the Center helped complete the 30-year vision of the Dallas Arts District.

In addition to the finest in world dance and music co-presented with TITAS Presents, Center audiences enjoy the best and most recent from Broadway with the Broadway Series; top concerts, lectures and performers with Center Presents; and a five-year undertaking to present The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The Center also presents a wide range of free programming for audiences from every part of Dallas, including Patio Sessions concerts, Sunset Screenings, Local Motion fitness programs and an annual event that draws thousands, Reliant Lights Your Holidays. The Center makes performance art accessible to thousands of local students through its education program, Open Stages. The Center's Community Partners program works with local service agencies to provide free tickets to those who might otherwise not be able to afford to attend. Through a variety of special programs and benefits, the Center's members and volunteers are able to become involved and engaged in the arts.

Five renowned resident companies utilize the Center's performance spaces: Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, The Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center and Texas Ballet Theater.

The Center's Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park, and Annette Strauss Square are some of the finest venues for performances in the world, designed by internationally acclaimed architectural firms.

The Center's mission is to provide a public gathering place that strengthens community and fosters creativity through the presentation of performing arts and arts education programs.

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