Author Guide · Creativity · Memoir
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Twyla Tharp starts her day with a 5:30 a.m. workout at the gym, and she has written that it is the ritual, more than the exercise, that keeps her from going back to sleep. The American choreographer, born in Indiana in 1941, founded her own company in 1965 and has made 129 dances since, for her own troupe and for companies such as American Ballet Theatre, as well as the choreography for Miloš Forman’s Hair and Amadeus, and the Billy Joel musical Movin’ Out, which won her a Tony in 2003. That same year she published The Creative Habit, which argues that creativity comes from preparation rather than inspiration. This guide covers her four key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 key books · 1992–2019 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Twyla Tharp has written four books: the autobiography Push Comes to Shove (1992), The Creative Habit (2003), The Collaborative Habit (2009) and Keep It Moving (2019). Start with The Creative Habit, her practical guide with 32 exercises; read on for what each book covers and who helped her write them.
Where to Start with Twyla Tharp
If you want her best-known book
→ The Creative Habit (2003) — creativity as daily practice, with 32 exercises.
If you want her life story
→ Push Comes to Shove (1992) — from rural Indiana to her own company.
If you work with other people
→ The Collaborative Habit (2009) — lessons from Robbins, Baryshnikov and Billy Joel.
If you want to think about getting older
→ Keep It Moving (2019).
4 Twyla Tharp Books, in Order
Push Comes to Shove
Her autobiography, named after the 1976 ballet she made for Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theatre. It runs from her birth in rural Indiana and a childhood of art, music and dance lessons in Southern California to the New York modern dance scene of the 1960s, the years of running her own company, and the failure of her stage production of Singin’ in the Rain. She writes plainly about her mother, her marriage to the painter Bob Huot, therapy and abortions; Kirkus called it “a riveting read”.
The Creative Habit
Written with Mark Reiter, a guide built on one claim: that creativity is the product of preparation and routine, not talent waiting for inspiration. Tharp describes her own rituals, including the early-morning workout, and the box she fills with notebooks, recordings and pictures at the start of every new dance; the material for Movin’ Out filled twelve. The book includes 32 practical exercises. Simon & Schuster positions it alongside The Artist’s Way and Bird by Bird.
The Collaborative Habit
Written with Jesse Kornbluth, a short book on working with other people, drawn from her own partnerships: with Jerome Robbins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Elvis Costello, David Byrne and Miloš Forman, and with several generations of dancers. It treats collaboration as a skill that can be practised, like the creative habit of the earlier book.
Keep It Moving
Written when she was 78, a book about staying active and purposeful as you get older: how she keeps herself motivated, how her fitness routine has changed with age, and why she thinks attitude counts for more than luck. As in The Creative Habit, each chapter ends with a small exercise.
In What Order to Read Twyla Tharp
The four books stand alone, so you can read them in any order. The Creative Habit is the one most readers come to first, and The Collaborative Habit is written as its companion, so read those two together.
Push Comes to Shove fills in the life behind the advice: the training, the early years in New York and the cost of running a company. Keep It Moving is her late book, and reads best once you know where her habits came from.
A reading path
1. The Creative Habit (2003)
2. The Collaborative Habit (2009)
3. Push Comes to Shove (1992)
4. Keep It Moving (2019)
A Book About Twyla Tharp
Beyond the 4 key books: 1 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Biography
1
1 book · 2006
- 2006Howling Near Heaven: Twyla Tharp and the Reinvention of Modern Dancea study of her career by the dance critic Marcia B. Siegel
The years · 1941–2025
Quick facts about Twyla Tharp
- Known for
- Tharp is known as the American choreographer who mixed ballet, modern dance and popular music, from Deuce Coupe (1973) to the Broadway musical Movin’ Out, and as the author of The Creative Habit.
- 1941
- Born near Portland, Indiana
- 1965
- Founds Twyla Tharp Dance
- 1976
- Push Comes to Shove for Baryshnikov
- 2025
- Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Venice
- Born
- 1 July 1941, on a farm near Portland, Indiana
- Education
- Barnard College, art history, 1963
- Company
- Twyla Tharp Dance, founded 1965
- Film
- Choreography for Hair (1979), Ragtime (1981), Amadeus (1984) and White Nights (1985)
- Broadway
- Tony Award for Best Choreography for Movin’ Out (2003)
- Honours
- National Medal of Arts (2004), Kennedy Center Honors (2008), MacArthur Fellowship
- Co-writers
- Mark Reiter (The Creative Habit), Jesse Kornbluth (The Collaborative Habit)
The red mark is 2003: The Creative Habit, published the year Movin’ Out won her a Tony.
How Twyla Tharp Writes: Advice from the Studio
Tharp writes from the rehearsal room rather than from theory. The central idea of The Creative Habit is stated in its first chapter: “Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.” Her examples are her own working life: the morning ritual she keeps whether or not she feels like it, the box of notebooks, tapes and pictures that starts every dance, and the reading she does to fill her head with material.
The habit books are built as manuals. The Creative Habit has 32 exercises, Keep It Moving closes each chapter with one, and both mix instruction with stories from her collaborations and from other artists. Both habit books were written with a collaborator, Mark Reiter and Jesse Kornbluth, which keeps the prose short and direct.
Push Comes to Shove is different: a full autobiography that Kirkus described as “as direct, quirky and complex as Tharp herself”, and that covers failures, such as Singin’ in the Rain, as openly as successes. Read together, the four books show the same person at work: someone who treats making art as a job to be turned up for every day.
Frequently asked questions about Twyla Tharp’s books
How many books has Twyla Tharp written?
Four: Push Comes to Shove (1992), The Creative Habit (2003), The Collaborative Habit (2009) and Keep It Moving (2019). All four are covered on this page.
What are Twyla Tharp’s books in order?
Push Comes to Shove (1992), The Creative Habit (2003), The Collaborative Habit (2009) and Keep It Moving (2019).
Where should I start with Twyla Tharp?
With The Creative Habit (2003), her practical guide to building creativity through routine and preparation, with 32 exercises. If you would rather know her story first, start with Push Comes to Shove.
What is Twyla Tharp’s most famous book?
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life (2003), written with Mark Reiter. It is the book that made her known to readers outside dance.
What is the box in The Creative Habit?
Tharp starts each new dance by filling a box with everything related to it: notebooks, recordings, videos, photographs and pictures. She describes it as a record of her preparation, not a substitute for the work itself. The material for Movin’ Out filled twelve boxes.
Who co-wrote Twyla Tharp’s books?
The Creative Habit was written with Mark Reiter and The Collaborative Habit with Jesse Kornbluth. Push Comes to Shove and Keep It Moving carry her name alone.
What has Twyla Tharp choreographed?
Some 129 dances, as well as television specials and films, including Deuce Coupe (1973) for the Joffrey Ballet, Push Comes to Shove (1976) for Mikhail Baryshnikov, In the Upper Room (1986), the dances in Miloš Forman’s films Hair, Ragtime and Amadeus, and the Broadway musicals Movin’ Out and Come Fly Away.
Did Twyla Tharp win a Tony?
Yes. She won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Choreography for Movin’ Out, set to the songs of Billy Joel. She has also won two Emmy Awards, including one for the television special Baryshnikov by Tharp.
Is Twyla Tharp still alive?
Yes. She was born on 1 July 1941 near Portland, Indiana. In 2025 the Venice Biennale gave her its Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in dance.
Is there a biography of Twyla Tharp?
Besides her own autobiography, Push Comes to Shove (1992), the dance critic Marcia B. Siegel wrote Howling Near Heaven: Twyla Tharp and the Reinvention of Modern Dance (2006).
Footnotes
- Twyla Tharp — Wikipedia
- Twyla Tharp — Cal Performances
- The Creative Habit — Simon & Schuster
- Twyla Tharp’s Got ‘The Creative Habit’ — Backstage
- Push Comes to Shove — Kirkus Reviews
- Keep It Moving — Bookreporter
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.”
— Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit (2003)
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