Twyla Tharp's roots in Rialto
By FIELDING BUCK
The Press-Enterprise
People who grew up in Rialto in the 1950s consider Twyla Tharp a miracle -- the way she emerged from the orange groves to recreate herself as a leader in the dance world.
Nearly 50 years after attending high school in San Bernardino, Tharp is a Kennedy Center honoree, in a ceremony that will be broadcast Tuesday.
"She is an American original," Tharp's bio reads on the Kennedy Center Honors Web site. "And, for all their hip edginess and carefree lines, her dances at once celebrate and create the best of the American dream."
People who watch PBS probably have some idea of Tharp's contribution to modern dance, which includes choreographing more than 135 works and collaborations with Russian superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov.
People who don't have probably seen the billboard for "Movin' Out" at the Interstate 10/215 interchange. That Broadway musical, with a plot told entirely in dance and Billy Joel songs, won her a 2003 Tony. Its third national tour will bring it to San Bernardino's California Theatre on Jan. 26-28.
By FIELDING BUCK
The Press-Enterprise
People who grew up in Rialto in the 1950s consider Twyla Tharp a miracle -- the way she emerged from the orange groves to recreate herself as a leader in the dance world.
Nearly 50 years after attending high school in San Bernardino, Tharp is a Kennedy Center honoree, in a ceremony that will be broadcast Tuesday.
"She is an American original," Tharp's bio reads on the Kennedy Center Honors Web site. "And, for all their hip edginess and carefree lines, her dances at once celebrate and create the best of the American dream."
People who watch PBS probably have some idea of Tharp's contribution to modern dance, which includes choreographing more than 135 works and collaborations with Russian superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov.
People who don't have probably seen the billboard for "Movin' Out" at the Interstate 10/215 interchange. That Broadway musical, with a plot told entirely in dance and Billy Joel songs, won her a 2003 Tony. Its third national tour will bring it to San Bernardino's California Theatre on Jan. 26-28.