July 1
Born Today:
Twyla Tharp
Versatile choreographer Twyla Tharp (1941-) began her career as a postmodern dancemaker. She founded her company in 1965 and in 1973 she choreographed Deuce Coupe for the Joffrey Ballet, featuring popular music by The Beach Boys. This dance is considered one of the first to successfully combine modern dance and ballet into what is now called contemporary ballet. Since that time, Tharp has also choreographed for movies, including Hair (1978) and Amadeus (1983), and White Nights (1985), and for Broadway shows including Movin’ Out (2002) and Come Fly Away (2010). Her company merged with ABT in 1988 and she has created 16 works for their repertory.
Also Born Today: Actor Leslie Caron (1931-) was a lovely and very young dancer when she worked with Gene Kelly (1912-1996) on the movie An American in Paris (1951) and she is part of a rare circle of partners who have danced with Kelly, Fred Astaire (1899-1987), Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948-) and Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993).
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Ballet Premiere: La Fille Mal Gardee in 1789
Movie: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes released in 1953