Coming back at you

Hello folks,

So, I have not Blogged since September 2008. That’s four months.

I needed to take that time off. I know that whoever reads this will probably not believe me and will think that I am just using it as an excuse for being lazy, but it’s true. I was not ready to do any of this. Call it “Writer’s Block” or whatever you will…. But at the end, I chose not to write in September because I did not feel like it. Over the past month or so I have some instances of wanting to write or to be creative, but I could not force it.

There are a few things that have finally converged to make me want to be creative again. I recently lost some hours at work, so time is now allowing me to be creative again, I have had to spend some more time at my computer than I was for awhile, and having a keyboard in front of you always helps you write, and finally it has just felt right. I have had this itch bugging me to write.

I have started to write some sketches again, and so I can call myself a writer again. In the words of Caleb McEwen, “The only thing that makes you a writer is that writers write.”

My friend and roommate Lisa Burton (http://www.lisaburton.blogspot.com/) is reading a book I lent her by Twyla Tharp entitled “The Creative Spirit” in which the world renowned choreographer writes about how important it is to create structure for your creative spirit to be healthy…. Or if you are bogged down, that you cannot force it, you must take a break from it, you must get away from your work every now and again. I also compare this to Jill Bernard’s “Sine Wave of Suck” in which with regards to improv there are times when you will suck, or at least you will feel like you suck…. So you must move away from improv. Go for a walk or a leave of absence, join a softball team, whatever it takes. Get away and do something else. Get over it, it’s just improv.

So here I am, I moved to Chicago four months ago, and although I am searching for more work (that pays), I kind of feel like I am finally getting the hang of this place. I am certainly feeling better about some of my stuff, I feel like I am in a place where my creative spirit can be successful. Woot.

For a return of my “Better Know a ______________” I give you:
BETTER KNOW A CHOREOGRAPHER: TWYLA THARP

Whoever might read this might immediately stop reading because they are turned off by the idea of dance, but I implore you to keep reading. Twyla has thoughts and words that transcend to all walks of life.

I was first introduced to Twyla Tharp’s book “The Creative Spirit” by a college professor named Lance Brockman. He made us read it in our Advanced Scene Design course. One of the biggest “take aways” I had for the book was that whatever your passion and your art you must be purposeful about your art. It is too easy to take the easy route of an artist and lose your drive or give up on it, or worse yet call yourself an artist when you do not create. Think of the college student who is too concerned with partying and sleeping to go to class. They are not a student, they are a waste of possibility. So Twyla writes that one must work toward their goals, they must set structure to be their most creative… in the words of my friend Lauren Anderson, “We must limit to free.” We could create anything, but without some structure it is so much harder.

Twyla Tharp once said, “The only thing I fear more than change is no change. The business of being static makes me nuts.” And this reads to an improviser well. My friend John Sweeney was quoted on millions of Starbucks Cups as saying, “Improvisers don't look at change as an obstacle; we look at it as fuel. We know that the next great idea lies just on the other side of the change. We are constantly asking ourselves, 'What can I do to incite change?' Well?" This idea of change is hard for people. To change is the unknown…. Hell, I am scared of it too. But if we always stay the same then how can we ever improve ourselves? Take a look at the auto industry.

Twyla started formal piano training when she was four years old. She had dancing lessons of every sort and description, and painting lessons. She also learned German and shorthand. Her mother’s viewpoint on education was that Twyla was to learn everything. Simple enough, right? But it makes sense to me. An artist must educate themselves in as much that might seemingly have nothing to do with their art form as possible, otherwise they run the risk of either not knowing how to create their next work or that their work will become stagnant.

Twyla Tharp has won Emmy and Tony awards, and currently works as a choreographer in New York City. That is her one line biography, but like any artist she is a lot more than a one line of text. She is a weird confluence of circumstance bound together to create a demanding individual I can admire.

Think of the performers and artists you know and admire. I will bet you that you can probably say the same thing for each one of them. Any artist who is worth their salt has been through a lot and done a lot to get by and not give up on their art form. You must be dedicated. You must be driven. You must be diverse. You must be able to change.

What drives you? What is your goal? Is everything you are doing going to take you there? Is that a good or a bad thing (or neither)? Are you happy? Does that matter?

That is all.
davejennings.net and dvj.blogspot.com