In the Upper Room © Twyla Tharp

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Audience Production Guide
In the Upper Room © Twyla Tharp
Audience Production Guide
October 25-27, 2013
The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Education Department is grateful for the support of the following organizations:
Allegheny Regional Asset District
Allegheny Technologies, Inc.
Buncher Family Foundation
Anne L. and George H. Clapp Charitable and
Educational Trust
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co., Inc.
Direct Energy Business
Dominion Foundation
Eat ‘n Park Restaurants, Inc.
ESB Bank
First Commonwealth Bank
Henry C. Frick Educational Fund of The Buhl
Foundation
The Huntington National Bank
GENCO Supply Chain Solutions
The Grable Foundation
Hefren-Tillotson, Inc.
The Heinz Endowments
Net Health Systems
Peoples Natural Gas
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
Pennsylvania Department of Community and
Economic Development
PNC Bank
PPG Industries, Inc.
Richard King Mellon Foundation
James M. and Lucy K. Schoonmaker
Foundation
Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust
UPMC Health Plan
Hilda M. Willis Foundation
Cover photo: “In the Upper Room” © Twyla Tharp. Photo
by Rich Sofranko. Artists: Luca Sbrizzi and Kumiko Tsuji.
Production Guide created by PBT’s Department of Education and Community Engagement, 2013.
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CONTENTS
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Contemporary Ballet
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Mixed Repertoire Format
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The Choreographer—Twyla Tharp
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The Repétitéur—Shelley Washington
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Nine Sinatra Songs
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The Singer—Frank Sinatra
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Twyla and Frank
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Frank Sinatra Quiz
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The Costumes—Oscar de la Renta
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In the Upper Room
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The Composer—Philip Glass
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Costume and Lighting Design
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Signature Step—Ballroom Dance
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Other Tharp Works in PBT’s Repertoire
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For Further Thought
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Resources
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The Benedum Center
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Accessibility
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Answers to Sinatra Quiz
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Contemporary Ballet
Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and In the Upper Room embody many hallmarks of contemporary ballet. This style of ballet incorporates both modern dance and classical ballet movements and
shapes, taking some of the techniques of pointe work in classical ballet and combining them with
the floor work and “groundedness” of modern dance. A contemporary dancer may have flexed feet
and bent knees, which allows for a greater variety of body lines and shapes. He or she may wear
ballet shoes or dance slippers, street shoes, or may simply be barefoot. (In the ballets on this program, footwear includes ballroom dance shoes, pointe shoes, and tennis shoes.) Contemporary
ballet utilizes the full range of motion of the body and is not confined by the more prescribed techniques found in classical ballet.
George Balanchine pioneered contemporary
ballet. His style today is known as neoclassical
ballet—in between classical and what we now
call contemporary ballet. Balanchine’s neoclassical ballet incorporated modern dance techniques into his works, such as flexed hands (and
sometimes feet), turned-in legs, off-centered positions, and non-classical costumes (often just a
leotard). He brought modern dancers such as
Paul Taylor into his company (New York City Ballet) and worked with Martha Graham and other
modern dance choreographers.
An asymmetrical pose, characteristic of neo-classical ballet, in
George Balanchine’s Rubies. Artists: PBT’s Laura Desiree and
Willy Shives. Photo by Randy Choura, 1997.
Ballet choreographers such as Glen Tetley (who grew up in
Pittsburgh), John Butler and Robert Joffrey began to use modern dance techniques to expand on Balanchine’s new style.
Mikhail Baryshnikov, who trained with Balanchine, worked with
modern choreographers, including Twyla Tharp, when he was
artistic director at American Ballet Theatre. Tharp’s Push
Comes to Shove, created for Baryshnikov and ABT in 1976,
and In the Upper Room (1986) were important contemporary
ballet innovations, using modern movements on classically
trained dancers.
PBT has performed works by numerous contemporary ballet
choreographers, including Tetley, Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kilián
and Dwight Rhoden. PBT will perform Rhoden’s contemporary
ballet, Smoke ‘n Roses (created for PBT in 2007), in March
2014.
Both of these contemporary ballets were created on PBT, and had their world
premieres by PBT in Pittsburgh.
Top: Tabula Rasa, choreography by Ohad Naharin. Artistis: Joseph Briggs, Jennifer Davis, and Paul Abrahamson. Photo by Randy Choura, 1987.
Left: Chromatic, choreography by Dwight Rhoden. Artists: Cooper Verona and
Amanda Cochrane. Photo by Rich Sofranko, 2012.
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The Mixed Repertory Format
An Evening of Twyla Tharp is a mixed repertory performance of two contemporary ballets, Nine Sinatra Songs and In the Upper Room, by American choreographer Twyla Tharp.
What is a “Mixed Rep”? When you go to the ballet to see an evening of dance that is not a full
length “story ballet” such as The Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker, you are probably attending a
“mixed rep,” a program consisting of several shorter ballets that are performed together. The works
may be plotless or have a storyline. They may be thematically related, have the same choreographer (as in this production), or they may have completely different styles of choreography, mood,
music or historical period. The programming possibilities for a mixed rep program are unlimited.
Mixed rep is short for “mixed repertory.” A ballet company’s repertory is the collection of all the
works that they are prepared to perform, which include both full-length ballets, excerpts from fulllength ballets, and short, one-act pieces. A company rotates ballets in their collection, performing a
different combination of works each season. The repertory reflects the artistic style of the company,
as well as the technical abilities of the dancers.
Why do a mixed rep program? Why go see one? A mixed rep performance allows a company to
explore and experiment with ballet styles and choreographers, and challenge, extend and showcase its abilities. It is also a great way for the audience to be introduced to several different works
and artists in one program.
The Choreographer—Twyla Tharp
Dance is the most fundamental of all art forms. If a
thing moves, it lives. And we have dance all around us.
Twyla Tharp, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 2011
Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Twyla
Tharp has choreographed more than 160 works, including129 dances, four full-length ballets, six Hollywood movies, and four Broadway shows. She has received a 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 Cen- © Richard Avedon. Courtesy of The Richard Avedon
Foundation and Twyla Tharp Dance Company
ter 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
their 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—Ms. Tharp’s
work expands the boundaries of American 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, Hubbard Street
Dance Chicago, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Miami City Ballet and Pacific Northwest
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Ballet. Many of Ms. Tharp’s works, some from as early as 1971, continue to be performed by ballet
and dance companies around the world.
Ms. Tharp's work first appeared on Broadway in 1980 with When We Were Very Young, followed by
her collaboration with David Byrne on The Catherine Wheel and then Singin’ in the Rain. In 2002,
Ms. Tharp’s dance musical Movin’ Out, set to the music and lyrics of Billy Joel, received, among
other awards, the 2003 Tony Award for Best Choreography. Ms. Tharp later worked with Bob Dylan’s music and lyrics in The Times They are A-Changin’. She also created Come Fly Away and Sinatra: Dance with Me, 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 PBS' Dance in
America; co-producing and directing Making Television Dance, which won the Chicago International
Film Festival Award; and directing The Catherine Wheel for BBC Television. Ms. Tharp co-directed
the television special Baryshnikov by Tharp, which won two Emmy Awards as well as the Director's
Guild of America Award for Outstanding Director Achievement.
In 1992, Ms. Tharp wrote 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. Today, Ms. Tharp continues to create.
(courtesy of Twylatharp.org. )
Twyla Tharp at a Glance
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Launched Twyla Tharp Dance (1965)
Choreographed over 135 dances
Choreographed five Hollywood movies
Choreographer or director of seven Broadway shows
Author of three books
Created choreography for American Ballet Theatre, Hubbard
Street Dance, New York City Ballet, The Martha Graham Dance
Company, The Paris Opera Ballet, and The Royal Ballet and
more.
Selected Awards
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2 Emmy Awards for Baryshnikov by Tharp
19 honorary doctorates
MacArthur Fellowship grant
Tony Award (best choreography—Movin’ Out)
National Medal of the Arts (2004)
Kennedy Center Honor (2008)
Image Credit: Academy of Achievement
Listen to an interview of Tharp by fashion designer Norma Kamali. (Language warning). Read an
interview with Tharp at ChicagoMagazine.com. Watch an excerpt from the movie Hair, featuring
Tharp’s choreography; and a performance of a portion of Movin’ Out at the 2003 Tony Awards.
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The Répétiteur—Shelley Washington
. . . she ignited the kind of torrent of energy that’s needed to dance
Tharp’s ballets.
Dance Magazine, May 2008
A répétiteur (from the French verb répéter, to repeat) is one who
teaches the steps and roles of a ballet to a company of dancers.
He or she often has an intimate connection with a particular choreographer’s work. The George Balanchine Trust, the Antony
Tudor Trust, Twyla Tharp Dance Company, and others each
have their own corps of répétiteurs who travel to ballet companies to teach and rehearse their works.
Shelley Washington visited PBT throughout the late summer and
fall to teach the Tharp ballets for this production. She has a long
association with Ms. Tharp, studying with her early in her career at Wolf Trap Academy, American
University. She was invited to join Twyla Tharp Dance Company in 1975. She was a graduate of
Interlochen Arts Academy and had previously danced as a member of the Martha Graham Dance
Company. Ms. Washington furthered her training at the Juilliard School; in 1977 she performed in
the film Hair and in 1985 in Singing in the Rain on Broadway, serving as Dance Captain for that
production. In 1987 she was honored with a Bessie Award (awarded for innovative achievement in
dance) for Outstanding Performance.
From 1988 to 1992 Ms. Washington joined the American Ballet Theater in association with Twyla
Tharp as a soloist and rehearsal director. In 1993 she was the rehearsal director for Twyla Tharp’s
“Cutting Up” tour starring Ms. Tharp and Mikhail Baryshnikov, Twyla Tharp and Dancers City Center Season in New York, and Tharp Dances International Tour. Ms. Washington continues to work
with Ms. Tharp as a répétiteur, setting, staging and directing ballets for various companies including American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Martha Graham
Dance Company, Australian Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater, Miami City Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet.
An embodiment of Twyla Tharp’s artistic vision, Ms. Washington brings the excitement and quirkiness of Tharp’s signature style to her work and technique. Shelley is in demand around the world,
setting, staging and directing ballets for various companies. She works intimately with their dancers
to once again bring to life the major pieces Ms. Tharp created specifically for her. Since Shelley’s
earliest days as a dancer, Tharp saw her leadership potential and worked at helping her hone
those inherent skills. Shelley’s pioneering technique, brilliant energy and intelligence serve as an
inspiration not only to her peers but also to a new generation of dancers to follow.
Bio and photo courtesy of Shelley Washington.
Read a brief article in Dance Magazine about Shelley Washington’s “style” as a répétiteur of Twyla
Tharp’s works. Watch Tulsa Ballet rehearsing Nine Sinatra Songs with commentary by Shelley
Washington.
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Nine Sinatra Songs
Choreographer Twyla Tharp
Music Various compositions sung by Frank Sinatra
Repétitéur Shelley Washington
Costumes Oscar de la Renta
Set Design Santo Loquasto
Lighting Jennifer Tipton
World Premiere Twyla Tharp Dance Company, October 14,
1982
The choreography isn’t just brilliant, it’s informative. It tells so much
about the partnerships whirling before us that we barely see it as
choreography . . .
The Christian Science Monitor, 1985
Nine Sinatra Songs © Twyla Tharp. Artists: Erin Halloran and Ivan Bielik. Photo by Rick Evans, 2006
THE SONGS (control-click to listen)
''Softly as I Leave You'' by Georgio Calabrese, Tony De Vita, Hal Shaper (1954)
''Strangers in the Night” by Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder (1966)
“One for My Baby” (“And One More for the Road”), by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer (1958)
“My Way”, by Paul Anka, Jacques Revaux, Claude Francois (1969)
“Something Stupid” by Carson Parks (1967)
“All the Way,” by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen (1957)
''Forget Domani” by Norman Newell and Riz Ortolani (1965)
“That’s Life” by Kelly Gorden and Dean Kay (1966)
The ninth song is a reprise of My Way with the entire ensemble. Dates indicate when songs were recorded by Sinatra.
Nine Sinatra Songs presents a glamorous portrait of seven couples that traces the arc of romantic
relationships. The dancers swing, swirl, tango and cha-cha through a glittering ballroom.
Tharp created the ballet in 1982, following her Sinatra-inspired duo, Once More Frank, and in the
wake of her research of turn-of-the-century exhibition/ballroom dancing (and the partnering of the
famous dance couple, Irene and Vernon Castle) for the movie Ragtime. It is one of Tharp’s most
frequently performed works and has become a mainstay in the repertories of professional dance
companies worldwide.
Tharp chose only songs with arrangements from the 1950s and 60s. That was when, as she describes it, “my parents were still together, when all parents were still together. . .(it was) the last
time we assumed as a culture that of course men and women lived together and loved for a lifetime.” Each of the songs presents its own take on a particular phase in a relationship and has its
own musical and dance/theater character. Tharp was inspired by Sinatra’s classic interpretation of
the song material; she also in recent years credits 19th-century novelists, including Tolstoy and Balzac, whose works she says taught her about the psychological reality of love and relationships.
The opening, "Softly, As I Leave You," is a portrait of young love, a free and romantic duet filled
with youthful abandon. A smart, tango-flavored "Strangers in the Night" reveals an emotional distance between the couple. "One For My Baby," is sexy and playful, a couple in late-night, knowing
rapport. "My Way" re-gathers the first three couples; and then a fourth pas de deux lends tart,
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comic relief with "Somethin' Stupid." Unhurried and subtle glamour bathes the solid and trusting
couple in "All the Way." "Forget Domani" is a true showpiece—this duo plays it straight, fast, front
and center, with a very Hollywood feel. The final couple is engrossed in a battle of wits and maneuvers: dancing to "That's Life," they engage in a fast and furious one-upmanship said to be in the
style of an Apache dance.* A reprise of "My Way" brings all the couples together, each maintaining
their own distinctive character but also displaying unifying movements that hint at universal themes
in love and relationships.
Adapted from PBT program notes by Carol Meeder, 2006, program notes by Doug Fullerington, and TwylaTharp.org
Find more information, photos and video about Nine Sinatra Songs at TwylaTharp.org. Listen to
Edward Villella, former Miami City Ballet artistic director and New York City Ballet principal dancer,
discuss the ballet.
* Apache dance or la danse Apache (pronounced ah-PAHSH, not uhPATCH-ee) is a highly dramatic dance associated with Parisian street
culture at the beginning of the 20th century. The dance reenacts a violent "discussion" between a man and woman, including mock slaps and
punches and other “fighting” gestures. It can have elements of comedy
and tenderness but also can be disturbing to watch.
Learn more at JazzAgeClub.com; watch a clip of Shirley MacLaine
dancing an Apache dance the 1960 film Can Can, also starring Frank
Sinatra.
Image source
The Singer—Frank Sinatra
Growing up on the streets of Hoboken, New Jersey, made Frank Sinatra
(1915-1998) determined to work hard to get ahead. He started out as a
saloon singer (carrying his own sound system) and got his first major
break in 1935 as part of The Hoboken Four on popular radio show, Major
Bowes Amateur Hour. In 1939 he signed with Harry James’ big band and
then with Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.
Sinatra began acting, striking box-office gold with a lead role in the acclaimed Anchors Aweigh (1945) alongside Pittsburgh’s Gene Kelly. Sinatra recorded his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, and starred in
several movies, peaking in 1949 with Take Me Out to the Ball Game and
On the Town, co-starring in both again with Gene Kelly.
Image Source
Throughout the 1950s Sinatra recorded a slew of critically and commercially successful albums. His
acting career remained on a high as he gave strong and memorable performances in such films as
Guys and Dolls (1955) and The Joker is Wild (1957). He also dabbled in producing in the 1950s,
with Johnny Concho and A Hole in the Head (1959), in which he co-starred with Edward G. Robinson. He made his directorial debut with the anti-war film None but the Brave (1965).
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After a hiatus during the 1970s, Sinatra returned to the big screen in The First Deadly Sin (1980),
playing a New York detective in a moving, understated performance that was a fitting coda to his
career as a leading man. On stage, Sinatra was as prolific as ever, playing both nationally and internationally to sold-out arenas. In 1993 Sinatra recorded his final albums, Duets and Duets II, both of
which were highly successful, finding Sinatra an entirely new audience almost 60 years after he first
tasted fame.
Adapted from IMDb
Major Awards
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Academy Award and Golden Globe Award, Best
Supporting Actor, From Here to Eternity, 1954
Academy Awards for Best Original Song (vocals):
Three Coins in a Fountain (1954), All the Way
(1957), High Hopes (1959)
Golden Globe, Best Actor, Pal Joey, 1958
13 Grammy Awards, 1959-2001, including
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Strangers in the Night, It Was a Very Good Year,
My Way, The September of My Years (album)
Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement,
1971
Screen Actors Guild, Lifetime Achievement, 1973
Kennedy Center Honor, 1983
Congressional Gold Medal, 1998 (posthumous)
TWYLA AND FRANK
“You give me class.” —Sinatra to Tharp
Twyla Tharp has choreographed four works to songs by Frank Sinatra. Though the two were friendly they didn’t know each other well; still Gia Kourlis of The New York Times notes that Tharp’s connection to Sinatra’s voice and music is profound. Tharp’s Sinatra dances are “especially potent,”
says Kourlis, “diving beneath the surface of relationships to expose their beauty and flaws.”
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Once More Frank, 1976. Tharp choreographed three duets (“Something Stupid,” “That’s Life,”
and “One More for the Road”) for Mikhail Baryshnikov and herself.
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Nine Sinatra Songs, 1982. For 14 dancers, uses the three songs from Once, with five additional (see the list on page 7).
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Sinatra Suite, 1983. Adapts five songs from Nine for Baryshnikov and Elaine Kudo: “Strangers
in the Night,” “All the Way,” “That’s Life,” “My Way,” “One for My Baby.” Some but not all of the
choreography is the same—”One for My Baby” became a solo for Baryshnikov about longing
and love. Watch a video clip of Barishnikov and Kudo in Sinatra Suite.
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Come Fly Away, 2010. A Broadway musical with 15 dancers and 33 Sinatra songs. “That’s
Life,” “My Way,” and “One For My Baby” retain much of the 1982 choreography. “All the Way” is
choreographed for a large company of dancers rather than a duo. The other songs from Nine
Sinatra Songs are not in Come Fly Away. Watch a montage of dances in the musical.
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Sinatra: Dance With Me, 2010. A streamlined, one-act version of Come Fly Away produced for
a Las Vegas theater. Tharp also added three tracks and extended the finale. The Royal Danish
Ballet commissioned a new version of the production for their 2013 season; technical elements
were revised and new costumes designed by Norma Kamali to better suit a ballet company.
Frank Sinatra Fun Facts Quiz! (answers on last page)
1. Sinatra had numerous nicknames—can you name one or two?
2. Sinatra’s height didn’t measure up to his status as one of the entertainment giants of the 20th century.
How tall was he?
3. This building has a special lighting display each December 12th, Sinatra’s birthday. What building is it,
and in what city?
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The Costumes—Oscar de la Renta
One of America’s fashion icons, Oscar de la Renta (b. 1932)
has been a force in the design world since the early 1960s. He
inaugurated his own label in 1967
and has been a favorite of celebrities and First Ladies, including such
diverse personalities as Sarah Jessica Parker, Taylor Swift, Anne
Hathaway, Hillary Clinton, Jackie
Kennedy, and Laura Bush. His designs for Nine Sinatra Songs are
chic and glamorous, highlighting the
elegance of Tharp’s choreography
and Sinatra’s signature swagger.
Photo by Matti Hillig, 2008
Nine Sinatra Songs © Twyla Tharp. Artists: Erin Halloran and Ivan Bielik. Photo by Rick Evans, 2006
Watch a New York Magazine interview with de la Renta from March 2013. View a slide show of
recent de la Renta fashions at NBCLatino. Read a brief bio of the designer
In the Upper Room
Choreography Twyla Tharp
Music In the Upper Room, by Philip Glass
Repétitéur Shelley Washington
Costumes Norma Kamali
Lighting Design Jennifer Tipton
World Premiere Twyla Tharp Dance Company, August 1986
. . every inch of stage space, every bounce and jog, is rigorously
calibrated, and the choreography demands from the dancers
something akin to Olympic perfection of form.
The New York Times, 2005
Photo: In the Upper Room © Twyla Tharp
Artists: Luca Sbrizzi and Kumiko Tsuji. Photo by Rich Sofranko, 2010
Twyla Tharp thinks of the two women who initiate In the Upper Room in terms of ceramic, Chinese
temple guard dogs. From the "cells" of their side-by-side moves, with stretching, kicking and swinging legs, the dramatic, nearly religious and hypnotic, on-rushing work pours forth as one of the
most popular of Tharp's. An inky yet celestially lighted void frames the advancing, receding,
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exploding and imploding activities of the many-layered work. Beyond her "china dog" markers, the
choreographer characterizes the running-shoe-wearing couples as "stompers" and two pointe-shoewearing women as a "bomb squad." All work according to their nicknames, stomping, and
"bombing" the space with finesse, energy and force.
The cast of "participants" builds gradually and, once established, evolves partly through an altering
of costumes and through elaborating their dancing and their connection to the other dancers. Tharp
has described her movements here as "fierce, driving, and relentless," aiming to make some furiously fast unison moves "burn the retina." The dancers play with and feed on the music's driving
pulse, much of their locomotion can be seen as jogging, sometimes nonchalantly backwards. The
"bomb squad" amplifies into the "ballet cadre" and their red costuming stands out with special fire in
the black velvet surround.
The music's unwinding character climaxes in a finale that encapsulates the
entire ballet up to that point, with each
recapitulation colored and/or twisted
this way or that from its original presentation. With the first-time appearance of
the entire cast, the piece winds down. In
the process, it re-dramatizes the magical void created as a scenic component
by the innovative lighting. The dancers
variously disappear into the dense, rich
blackness that stands like a shadowy
infinity behind the more immediate
In the Upper Room © Twyla Tharp
space showered by shafts of warm light.
Two "stomper" men bolt backward into the void by way of throwing forward a sharp punch as they
"disappear." For summary punctuation the "china dogs" cue the ringing down of the curtain by pulling down their fists, as if sharply closing shut a window blind.
Tharp commissioned composer Philip Glass to create a new score. "The music hints at things, but I
tried to leave a lot of space for the dance to happen,” states Glass, “In that way the dancers complete it, fill it in." The choreography fuses a broad spectrum
of movement into one vigorous vocabulary; boxing, tap
dance, yoga, ballet and full-out sprinting are intertwined.
The dancers must push through the difficult steps, intricate
timing and aerobic demands of the choreography. As the
piece progresses, they shed layers of clothing, revealing
bright red under-layers and sweaty skin.
In The Upper Room synthesizes choreography, costumes,
music and lighting into a transcendent experience for both
audience and performers. It has become a central piece in
the repertories of dance companies worldwide.
Notes courtesy of Twyla Tharp Dance. Top photo by Rich Sofranko,
2010. Artists: Alejandro Diaz, Ashley Wegman, Kristen Rusnack, Stephen Hadala, Julia Erickson, Nicholas Coppula. Bottom photo by
Aimee DiAndrea, 2010. Artists: Alexandra Kochis, Joseph Parr and
Christopher Budzynski in rehearsal.
In the Upper Room © Twyla Tharp
View information, video and photos of the ballet at Twylatharp.org. Watch the Company’s dress
rehearsal of In the Upper Room at PBT studios in 2010. See more photos of PBT’s In the Upper
Room by Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Martha Rial in CrossCurrents.
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The Composer—Philip Glass
Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his
own ensemble, and his wide-ranging collaborations with artists
ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon contemporary musical and intellectual life.
The operas—Einstein on the Beach, The Voyage, and many
others—play throughout the world’s leading houses. Glass has
written music for experimental theater and for Academy Awardwinning motion pictures such as The Hours and Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, while Koyaanisqatsi, his initial filmic landscape
with Godfrey Reggio and the Philip Glass Ensemble, may be the
most radical and influential mating of sound and vision since
Fantasia. His associations, personal and professional, with leading rock, pop and world music artists date back to the 1960s. Indeed, Glass is the first composer to win a wide, multigenerational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the
dance world, in film and in popular music simultaneously.
Photo by Pasquale Salerno, 1993.
Born in 1937, Glass grew up in Baltimore. He studied at the UniSource
versity of Chicago, the Juilliard School and in Aspen with Darius
Milhaud. He moved to Europe, where he studied with the legendary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger
(who also taught Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and Quincy Jones) and worked closely with the
sitar virtuoso and composer Ravi Shankar. He returned to New York in 1967 and formed the Philip
Glass Ensemble – seven musicians playing keyboards and a variety of woodwinds, amplified and
fed through a mixer.
The new musical style that Glass was evolving was eventually dubbed “minimalism.” Glass himself
never liked the term and preferred to speak of himself as a composer of “music with repetitive structures.” Much of his early work was based on the extended reiteration of brief, elegant melodic fragments that wove in and out of an aural tapestry. Or, to put it another way, it immersed a listener in a
sort of sonic weather that twists, turns, surrounds and develops.
In the past 25 years, Glass has composed more than twenty operas, large and small; eight symphonies; two piano concertos and concertos for violin, piano, timpani, and saxophone quartet and
orchestra; soundtracks to films; string quartets; and a growing body of work for solo piano and organ. He has collaborated with Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Yo-Yo Ma, and Doris Lessing, among
many others. He presents lectures, workshops, and solo keyboard performances around the world,
and continues to appear regularly with the Philip Glass Ensemble.
Adapted from PhilipGlass.com
Listen to “Freezing,” from “Songs from Liquid Days” (1986), with music by Glass, vocals by Linda
Rondstadt, and lyrics by Suzanne Vega. Choreographer Stephen Mills used Glass’s music in his
ballet, Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project, which PBT performed in November 2009. Listen
to Tirol Concert for Piano and Orchestra, Movement 2, the finale in Light.
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Costume and Lighting Design
The costumes for In the Upper Room were designed by Norma Kamali, a pre-eminent American fashion designer known
for dressing some of the most beautiful women in the world.
She has been influential in trendy popular culture, creating
chic work-out clothes in the 1980s, clothing from parachutes
and sleeping bags, and the iconic red swimsuit worn by
Farah Fawcett in a 1976 poster for the television show Charlie’s Angels. The poster is still the best-selling poster of all
time, and the swimsuit was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 2011.
Image source
In the ballet the costumes evolve from black and white striped uniforms (reminiscent of referee uniforms) and gym shoes to bright red leotards and pointe shoes. The costumes are made of silk, the
preferred fabric for ballet because it moves so fluidly with the dancer’s body and movements.
Suede is attached to the bottom of the gym shoes as their rubber soles impede turns and slides.
The PBT Costume Shop staff hand-colored the red
View a timeline of Kamali’s work. See
pointe shoes with a Sharpie marker (liquid dye would
the Farah Fawcett swimsuit poster at
break down the toe box of the shoe).
Amazon.com. Watch an interview with
Kamali has also designed costumes for Tharp’s Sweet
Kamali from 2011. Find a link for an inFields and 66, (both 1996), Scarlatti (2011) and the balterview with Twyla Tharp by Kamali on
let version of Sinatra: Dance With Me/Come Fly With Me
page 6 of this guide.
(2013) .
Tharp asked lighting designer Jennifer Tipton to
make the dancers "appear out of nowhere" on an
empty stage. In the article “Designing Twyla Tharp’s
In the Upper Room” at designobserver.com, author
Michael Bierut describes the process:
Thanks to smoke machines, In the Upper Room is
staged in an even, featureless haze. The dancers are
invisible until they are picked out by Tipton's precise,
razor-sharp lighting. It's a simple effect, familiar to anyone who has driven a car on a foggy night, but in the
hands of this brilliant designer the results are mesmerizing . . . As the piece reaches its climax, dancers
seem to materialize out of nowhere before your eyes
every few seconds. Tipton's lighting is the kind of
magic that delights you even when you know how exactly the trick works.
In the Upper Room © Twyla Tharp
Artist: Luca Sbrizzi, Photo: Rich Sofranko, 2010
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Signature Step: Ballroom Dance
In Nine Sinatra Songs, Twyla Tharp infuses classical ballet
with the style and aura of ballroom dancing. She studied
ballroom dance while working on the 1981 film, Ragtime,
focusing on early 20th century style. The earliest versions
of ballroom dance are actually found in 16th-century
French social dance, but modern ballroom dance has its
roots in the early 1900s in the U.S. and England. Americans Irene and Vernon Castle (a focus of Tharp’s research
for Ragtime) were stars of the style and helped to codify
the dances and steps with their book, Modern Dancing
(1914).
In the ballet different ballroom dance steps weave in and
out so that the duets are a blend of several ballroom styles.
“Strangers in the Night” has definite tango elements, seen in Irene and Vernon Castle, ca. 1915, by
Frances Johnston. Image source
the dance’s sharp movements and head-turns. “Forget
Domani” is a lively blend of Latin ballroom dances. Tharp’s smooth and flowing transitions between
this variety of steps, styles and phrases are a hallmark of Nine Sinatra Songs.
Characteristics common across ballroom dance styles:
 Repeated dance phrases
 Dancers always dance as a pair
 Elongated posture to accentuate an elegant look
 Shoulders are back
 Partners hold each other closely
 Positioning as a couple is slightly off center, looking
over the right shoulder
Watch a clip from the film The Story
of Vernon and Irene Castle, starring
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Investigate the signature steps of
five Standard American ballroom
dances and five Latin American
dances.
Other Tharp Works in PBT’s Repertoire
PBT is proud to have fiour Twyla Tharp ballets in our repertory:
Nine Sinatra Songs (2006, 2013)
Octet (2008)
Known by Heart (“Junk” Duet”) (2008)
In the Upper Room (2010, 2013)
*dates are PBT performance dates
Known By Heart (“Junk Duet”) © Twyla Tharp
Artist: Erin Halloran: Photo: Rich Sofranko, 2008
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For Further Thought
After you attend the performance of An Evening of Twyla Tharp we encourage you to reflect upon
the emotional and intellectual experience of being an audience member at this performance. We believe that everyone is a critic, has a unique experience with each of our productions, and holds valid
opinions of the ballet based on those experiences. We encourage you to respond with your reflections via email to [email protected], or social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.
1. The two ballets presented in An Evening of Twyla Tharp have very different overall aesthetics,
but some hallmarks of Twyla Tharp’s choreographic styles show through in both. Based on what
you saw, what are some characteristics of the choreography that seem distinctly “Tharpian?”
2. Thinking about each individual ballet, what moment(s) particularly captivated you?
3. How do you think the pared-down aesthetic of contemporary ballet illuminates the choreography?
4. The majority of the dances in Nine Sinatra Songs feature one couple dancing on the stage of
the Benedum Center for Performing Arts, the third largest stage in the country. How does the
space of the Benedum affect your experience as an audience member? What were some things
in tonight’s performance that you thought were enhanced by the large space, and what things
might have been missed in such a large space?
5. How does each ballet utilize and enhance the music it is choreographed to, thinking particularly
about the lyrics in Nine Sinatra Songs and the repetition in In the Upper Room?
6. For Nine Sinatra Songs , Tharp incorporates two very distinct movement vocabularies: ballet and
ballroom dancing. Which of these vocabularies do you think is emphasized more and to what effects? How do these vocabularies work with and against each other in the dance?
7. In the Upper Room’s visual aesthetic consists of two elements (in addition to the choreography):
the bold costumes and the lighting. How do these elements establish the mood of the piece?
8. In both ballets featured in An Evening of Twyla Tharp, the traditional footwear in ballet—pointe
shoes for the women and flat ballet shoes for the men—are not employed to the extent they
would be in a classical ballet. What effects does this have on how the dancers are able to move
and utilize a ballet vocabulary? How did it affect your experience watching the ballets?
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Reviews
“. . . In the Upper Room embodies all the propulsive rush and thunder, the persistent rhythms and
modular scuttle of the score by Philip Glass to which the dance is set. But its nine sections or
dances are also deceptively playful, sporty, experimentation. . . . Classical ballet, take a deep, unaccustomed breath of air.”
Jennifer Dinning, The New York Times, October 28, 2008
“Its 13 dancers are fielded in two clearly contrasting teams. One group is comprised of three women and three men wearing sneakers, known as the “stompers,” whose movements dig into the
ground and relate to the muscular, athletic, social dance-influenced style Tharp has been developing for over two decades. Another contingent, four women and three men, perform phrases, that
connect to the classical ballet tradition in the most forward-looking, take-no-prisoners manner.”
Susan Reiter, cityArts, October 31, 2011
“Nine Sinatra Songs contains some of the trickiest steps Tharp has ever put together. . . The choreography isn’t just brilliant, its informative. It tells so much about the partnerships whirling before us
that we barely see it as choreography. . . (She) has stayed within the form of ballroom dancing, putting in her own moves so subtly you forget to gasp.”
Maggie Lewis, The Christian Science Monitor, 1985
“The . . . dancers drew me deeply into Ms. Tharp’s response to the music: The astonishing detail of
footwork for incidental quickstep, Latin or other rhythms; the exhilarating legato glide of the ultralong phrases; the instances of dance eloquence when individual words are cues for dance drama.”
Alistar Macaulay, The New York Times, 2007
Resources
Books
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Call
Number and Location
GV1787.A79 2012x (Main)
Ballet and Modern Dance, by Susan Au, 2012
The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working
Together, by Twyla Tharp, 2009
HD69.S8 T45 2009 (Main)
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for
Life, by Twyla Tharp, 2006
153.35 T51 (Mt. Lebanon, see
CLP website for others)
Push Comes to Shove, by Twyla Tharp, 1992
(autobiography)
GV1785.T43 A3 (Main)
On-line Resources
Twyla Tharp website: www.twylatharp.org
Modern Dancing, by Vernon and Irene Castle (1914), is available as a Google E-book. Go to
books.google.com and search for Modern Dancing.
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The Benedum Center
The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts is the crown
jewel of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Cultural District in downtown Pittsburgh. It was renovated in 1987
and is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.
The 2800 seat theatre used to be the Stanley Theater,
still visible on the lighted marquees outside. It has the
third largest stage in the United States measuring 144
feet wide by 78 feet deep. The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre,
Pittsburgh Opera, and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera all
use the Benedum for their performances.
Learn more about the Benedum Center. Investigate the Stanley Theatre’s role in music history
here in Pittsburgh.
Accessibility
PBT is committed to being an inclusive arts organization that serves everyone in the greater
Pittsburgh community through its productions and programs.
In conjunction with the Benedum Center for Performing Arts, the following accessibility services
are provided to patrons:

Wheelchair accessibility

Braille and large print programs

Assistive listening devices

Audio recordings of select program notes

Closed captioning (Saturday, Oct. 26th, 8PM for Twyla Tharp production).

Sign Language Interpretation provided by special request only. Please contact the Education
Department (see contact information below) at least 2 weeks in advance. Thank you!

Audio-described performances (Sunday, Oct. 27th at 2PM for Twyla Tharp production)
For more information about all of these programs please visit the accessibility page on PBT’s
website. Should you have a special request that is not listed above or have any questions about
our accessibility services, please do not hesitate to contact Alyssa Herzog Melby, Director of Education and Community Engagement, at 412-454-9105 or [email protected].
For more information about the accessibility services at the Benedum Center for the Performing
Arts, please visit their accessibility page.
Answers to Frank Sinatra Fun Facts Quiz on Page 10
1.
Ol’ Blue Eyes, The Voice, The Chairman of the Board, The Sultan of Swoon
2. 5’7”
3. The Empire State Building in New York City is lit entirely with blue lights every December 12th, in honor of Ol’ Blue
Eyes.
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