The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life

Tharp, Twyla

ISBN 10: 1480589837 ISBN 13: 9781480589834

Publisher: Brilliance Audio, 2014

Synopsis

All it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. It is the product of preparation and effort, and is within reach of everyone. Whether you are a painter, musician, businessperson, or simply an individual yearning to put your creativity to use, The Creative Habit provides you with 32 practical exercises based on the lessons Twyla Tharp has learned in her remarkable 35-year career.

In "Where's Your Pencil?" Tharp reminds you to observe the world—and get it down on paper. In "Coins and Chaos," she gives you an easy way to restore order and peace. In "Do a Verb," she turns your mind and body into coworkers. In "Build a Bridge to the Next Day," she shows you how to clean the clutter from your mind overnight.

Tharp leads you through the painful first steps of scratching for ideas, finding the spine of your work, and getting out of ruts and into productive grooves. The wide-open realm of possibilities can be energizing, and Twyla Tharp explains how to take a deep breath and begin….

About this title

Review

"[An] exuberant, philosophically ambitious self-help book for the creatively challenged."

-- The New York Times Book Review

"An entertaining 'how to' guide, The Creative Habit isn't about getting the lightning bolt of inspiration, but rather the artistic necessity of old-fashioned virtues such as discipline, preparation and routine."

-- Cathleen McGuigan, Newsweek

"The Creative Habit emphasizes the work habits that lead to success."

-- C. Carr, O: The Oprah Magazine

"Twyla Tharp's amazingly plain-spoken treatise...is a frank, honest, and tough-love testament essentially arguing that art and creativity are matters of hard, old-fashioned work."

-- Sid Smith, The Chicago Tribune

"[A]s accessible, smart and eye-opening as her dance."

-- Linda Winer, Newsday

"Though its context is a choreographer's world, its principles are universally applicable and sound....It could change your life."

-- Elizabeth Zimmer, The Village Voice

About the Author

Twyla Tharp, one of America's greatest choreographers, began her career in 1965, and in the ensuing years has created more than 130 dances for her company as well as for the Joffrey Ballet, the New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, London's Royal Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. Working to the music of everyone from Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart to Jelly Roll Morton, Frank Sinatra, and Bruce Springsteen, she is a pioneer in melding modern dance and ballet with popular music. In film, she collaborated with Milos Forman on Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus. For television, she directed Baryshnikov by Tharp, which won two Emmy awards. For the Broadway stage, she directed the theatrical version of Singin' in the Rain, and in 2003 won a Tony Award for Movin' Out, which she conceived, directed, and choreographed to the songs of Billy Joel. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. In 1993, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and in 1997 was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives and works in New York City.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1480589837
• ISBN 13: 9781480589834
• Binding: MP3 CD