The Day That Dance Got Me

Twyla Tharp's still a badass with a wicked sense of humor.

· 3 min read
The Day That Dance Got Me
Detroit Opera / Austin Richey Photo

Twyla Tharp Dance: Diamond Jubilee with Third Coast Percussion
Detroit Opera
Feb. 2, 2025

You don’t have to know dance to be able to love it.

That’s what I’m telling myself as I walk into the Detroit Opera for a Sunday matinee, flanked by my more qualified guests -- a lifelong dancer and two grown men who know it a lot better than I do.

Even though I didn’t know it, I walked in absolute bliss. I didn’t just love it; I adored it. Maybe it’s another A-word -- addiction because I’m fiending for more of it. I am shocked by all of us.

The two performances were touring to Detroit for the 60th anniversary of Twyla Tharp as a complete badass of dance with a wicked sense of humor. She’s a legendary choreographer with the experience to back it up. She’s worked on 129 dances, 12 television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure-skating routines. 

Hence the name “Diamond Jubilee,” which brings together a classic composer (Beethoven) with a more contemporary offering (Third Coast Percussion out of Chicago).

First up is “Diabelli” from 1998. It’s a set of dance vignettes set to Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. The bio boasts that Tharp is the “first and only choreographer to take on the intensely demanding and demonically complex work.” Complex because I can’t imagine how any of these dancers are able to keep a count in their heads as pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev unleashes a master class of solo piano playing.

Detroit Opera / Austin Richey Photo

With dancers dressed in tuxedo jumpsuits, it’s post-jazz, post-contemporary commentary that’s filled with performers mirroring one another and bringing a heavy dose of humor to nearly every physical movement. There’s a lot of Broadway sensibility in each set of dances. It’s goofy, it’s smooth, it’s a masterwork by the dancers on stage, beautifully blocked by Tharp.

For my uninitiated eyes, the backwards movements the dancers would often use to exit to the stage made it feel like time was freezing, reversing and moving forward all at once.

But the humor makes it all work. After 60 years of dance, Tharp is a master at laughing at tropes and trends from over the years, starting with the outfits themselves.

And post-intermission, we’re moving forward to a new work from Tharp called “SLACKTIDE.” It’s a collaboration with minimalist composer Philip Glass. It’s their first collaboration since 1986, reimagining Glass’ “Aguas da Amazonia” score with the help of Third Coast Percussion.

Third Coast is also celebrating an anniversary -- their 20th, to be exact (that’s the emerald year to Tharp’s diamond). 

“One of the highlights of our entire career so far has been this incredible opportunity to collaborate with Twyla Tharp,” says Third Coast percussionist and development director Robert Dillon, who spoke to me a few days ahead of their tour stop in Detroit.

“She’s unique among choreographers in terms of her insight and connection with the music,” adds Dillon. “She has an incredible sense of form, gesture, dynamic and development with the music. The dance is more in conversation with the music rather than just imitating the music. The dance has its own trajectory. It exists in a really beautiful way with the music.”

That all rings true after watching “SLACKTIDE,” a more serious, sexual and tribal performance from the first half of Tharp’s “Diabelli.”

Detroit Opera / Austin Richey Photo

The music is otherworldly and so are the movements of the dancers, now dressed in simple black tight fitting outfits against a massive illuminated backdrop that changes color with each movement of the music.

The “sound world” that Third Coast creates on the Detroit Opera stage is transfixing. And it’s all in front of a pretty full house for a Sunday matinee focused on dance.

For me, it was a conversion into loving the art form deeper than I ever have. I’ve seen dance like this before, but it never cut into me and nested there as wonderfully as Tharp’s massively successful 60th anniversary tour alongside Third Coast’s mind-bending soundtrack.