Tharp, Twyla

US modern-dance choreographer and dancer. Her work both entertains and challenges audiences; she often attaches an amusing or flippant veneer to serious and beautifully constructed dances. Reflecting her eclectic training, she has fused many dance styles including ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and avant-garde dance. Her works, frequently to set to popular music, include Push Comes to Shove (1976) with Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Movin' Out (2002), with Billy Joel.

Tharp founded her own troupe in 1965. In the 1980s Tharp focused on integrating emotional content into dance, as in The Catherine Wheel (1981), set to music by David Byrne (of The Talking Heads). Her troupe merged with the American Ballet Theater 1988–90, then reformed in 1991. She has been instrumental in preserving the classical technique within the framework of modern dance.