Twyla Tharp and Interstate 81

TWYLA THARP AND INTERSTATE 81 I had been watching a documentary about a white-haired woman, a legendary master of creative processes whose intensity of focus was a cautionary tale of explosive ideas at the expense of deep love directly delivered and, in spite of myself, I liked her anyway The force of her will was overwhelming and seductive, ten minutes in – I loved her creativity, twenty minutes in - I was floored by her focus, forty minutes later I began to understand why all whom she touched wanted desperately to know what she wanted next and that even their wills, their intellects and skills were extensions of hers, their presentations of dance a spiritual sorcery beyond discipline and hard work Several days later, I saw design presentations of an almost impossibly difficult project by an extraordinary team that included two gentlemen who had been students of mine No spiritual sorcery, no extension of iron will, but they danced through the realms of urbanism and landscape, engineering and aesthetics, their spirits so dedicated to the needs of humankind that I almost needed to cry And my dream for these men is that they serve until they can’t and that all their creations just shimmer and dance in the spiritual milieu of humanity and place, in environment and community, extensions of their skills, dedication and desire, and just a little inspiration they might have once received from an aging professor who taught them long ago!