In a career that has spanned four decades; choreographer Twyla Tharp has collaborated with great musicians; designers; thousands of dancers; and almost a hundred companies. Shes experienced the thrill of shared achievement and has seen what happens when group efforts fizzle. Her professional life has been -- and continues to be -- one collaboration after another. In this practical sequel to her national bestseller The Creative Habit; Tharp explains why collaboration is important to her -- and can be for you. She shows how to recognize good candidates for partnership and how to build one successfully; and analyzes dysfunctional collaborations. And although this isnt a book that promises to help you deepen your romantic life; she suggests that the lessons you learn by working together professionally can help you in your personal relationships. These lessons about planning; listening; organizing; troubleshooting; and using your talents and those of your coworkers to the fullest are not limited to the arts; they are the building blocks of working with others; like if youre stuck in a 9-to-5 job and have an unhelpful boss. Tharp sees collaboration as a daily practice; and her book is rich in examples from her career. Starting as a twelve-year-old teaching dance to her brothers in a small town in California and moving through her work as a fledgling choreographer in New York; she learns lessons that have enriched her collaborations with Billy Joel; Jerome Robbins; Mikhail Baryshnikov; Bob Dylan; Elvis Costello; David Byrne; Richard Avedon; Milos Forman; Norma Kamali; and Frank Sinatra. Among the surprising and inspiring points Tharp makes in The Collaborative Habit: -Nothing forces change more dramatically than a new partnership. -In a good collaboration; differences between partners mean that one plus one will always equal more than two. A good collaborator is easier to find than a good friend. If youve got a true friendship; you want to protect that. To work together is to risk it. -Everyone who uses e-mail is a virtual collaborator. -Getting involved with your collaborators problems may distract you from your own; but it usually leads to disaster. -When you have history; you have ghosts. If youre returning to an old collaboration; begin at the beginning. No evocation of old problems and old solutions. -Tharps conclusion: What we can learn about working creatively and in harmony can trans- form our lives; and our world.
#784962 in eBooks 2008-02-08 2008-02-08File Name: B002VBX93Q
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