Asra Yousuf

Author: Twlya Thwarp

If you haven’t heard of Twlya Tharp before, I will save you a quick google search which would have led you to her bio starting with these lines:

“Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Ms. Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines.  She received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, nineteen honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President’s Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor.”

https://www.twylatharp.org/bio

Given the accolades and the decades of experience Twlya has in building and exercising her creativity, I felt confident picking up this book, knowing that she knew what she was talking about. For the longest time, I have perceived creativity as the product of an “aha!” eureka moment- you are in the shower, and your mind wanders to a the plot of a new story you could write about. Or you might be on a walk and voila, you know the next piece of artwork you wish to experiment with. We have grown up with a lot of pre-conceived ideas about creativity- that creativity is in-born, or inherited, that creativity needs to be inculcated at a young age, that it is a product of nature over nurture.

On the contrary, what if creativity could be inculcated with persistence and perseverance? Would your next creative pursuit still seem as intimidating? And this is the mindset that Twlya attempts at inculcating through her book- that creativity is a habit that can be built, nurtured and sustained through deliberated measures.