Keep It Moving
by Bonnie Steinbock
I recently saw an interview on public TV with my favorite choreographer, Twyla Tharp, whose new book is Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life. I love Tharp’s sharp and sassy personality – she reminds me of our own Annie Carpenter, who started as a modern dancer with the Martha Graham company.
My favorite part of the Tharp interview was her response to a critic who had called her “the greatest female choreographer.” “Oh, please!” she said. “Why not compare me to other short choreographers? Compare me to the best choreographers, not the best female choreographers.”
I started modern dance when I was eleven. My first teacher was Jane Dudley, one of the original Martha Graham dancers. I continued to dance in college. During graduate school in philosophy at UC Berkeley, I took classes at Shawl-Anderson. It was there that I branched out to ballet.
In the 50s and early 60s, ballet and modern dance were kept strictly apart. That began to change in the late 60s. Twyla Tharp was one of the first modern dancers to incorporate ballet training in her company, and to choreograph for dancers like Mikhail Baryshnikov.
I knew people who did yoga in graduate school, but they tended to be spiritual types interested in Indian philosophy. That wasn’t me. I’m more of a narrow-minded rationalist. However, at age 50, I decided it might be time to try a kind of exercise that was easier on my joints.
My first venture into yoga was with Ashtanga. I loved how challenging it was. When an Ashtanga teacher once said, reprovingly, “Yoga is not about the circus tricks,” I thought, “I’m all about the circus tricks.”
Well, at age 72, I can no longer do the all circus tricks I once did, but yoga continues to be an important part of my life. I hope to be doing it in my nineties. My practice will change as I age, but, as Tharp says, there’s no reason to stop doing what you love. Keep it moving.