Twyla Tharp Dance to Perform at Byham (Sat., 4/19/25)

TWYLA THARP DANCE (modern dance). Presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council. April 19 only, 7:30 p.m.

In Pittsburgh or any city, it’s unusual for a touring modern-dance show to be one of the hottest tickets in town, but “usual” goes out the window when you’re talking about Twyla Tharp and her dancers. Tharp, now 83 and still cooking, has forged a career as America’s foremost crossover artist in choreography. She first made genre-busting waves with 1973’s Deuce Coupe, a feature-length ballet for the Joffrey Ballet set to songs by the Beach Boys. In 1981—for her own company, Twyla Tharp Dance—she collaborated with David Byrne on The Catherine Wheel, with peak-Talking-Heads-type music by Byrne and acrobatic dancing far beyond anything in Stop Making Sense. You may say that’s old news. But just last year in New York, Tharp premiered a suite of dances to the songs of Jacques Brel (including his thunderous “Port of Amsterdam”)—and on the same bill was a new dance she choreographed to music by Vivaldi. Tharp also has choreographed for Broadway shows, movies, and TV; her many awards include a Tony Award and two Emmys. 

Twyla Tharp Dance is currently on its 60th anniversary tour. Reserve promptly to see the company here. The Pittsburgh program consists of two pieces: Diabelli, with music from Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, and the new Slack Tide, with music reimagined from Philip Glass’s Aguas da Amazonia. 7:30 p.m. Presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council at the Byham Theater, 101 6th St., Cultural District. (M.V.) 

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