Heroes
Toshiko Oiwa, Jeffrey, Rivera and Robinson in performance. Photo by Jack Vartoogian.
Company dancers in dress rehearsal.
Company dancers in a promotional photo. Photo by Richard Avedon.
Robinson, Howard and Stanton perform. Photo by Jack Vartoogian.
Philip Glass, Tharp and David Bowie observe a rehearsal. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
Premiere
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Date
20 September 1996
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Company
Tharp!
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Venue
Zellerbach Auditorium
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Location
Berkeley, CA
Production
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Choreographer
Twyla Tharp
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Composer
Philip Glass (Symphony no. 4, “Heroes” from the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno, 1996)
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Lighting Designer
Jennifer Tipton
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Costume Desginer
Kasia Walicka Maimone
Dancers
Principals
Roger C. Jeffrey, Matt Rivera, Andrew Robinson
Ensemble
Yi Cho, Jennifer Howard, Gabrielle Malone, Julie Stahl, Sandra Stanton
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Number of Dancers
11
Dance Sections
I. Heroes
Jeffrey, Rivera, Robinson and Company
II. Abdulmajid
Jeffrey, Rivera, Robinson and Company
III. Sense of Doubt
Jeffrey, Robinson, Anderson, Mahoney, Quijada
IV. Neuköln
Malone and Jeffrey, Rivera, Robinson, Anderson, Mahoney, Quijada
V. V2 Schneider
Full Company
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Runtime
00:27:37
Description
Tharp collaborated with composer Philip Glass for a second time in the creation of Heroes. Glass based his score on the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno. The mood is foreboding; the music sounds of trials yet to come.
Dim lights reveal three male dancers as they move in slow unison across the stage. Deep lunges and firm, wide stances ground their movement. The men remain stable as the full cast enters, hurling themselves through the space.
The trio comes to represent an unusual kind of hero – a constant presence with a firm hand.
“In the traditional sense of a heroic saga, it’s not that pretty a picture, but they do get to another place, where they can stand for something other than this kind of false idealism of the perfect happy tomorrow…. It’s not a James Dean hero. It’s not a die-in-theOld-West, go-off-into-the-sunset-alone hero. It’s not about being against society anymore. It’s about standing there [together], holding something up. It’s not pulling away, it’s do[ing] something about it.” – Twyla Tharp, 1996
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Co-commissioned by
Past Performances
Tharp!
Heroes (premiere) – Sweet Fields (premiere) – "66" (premiere) | Tharp!
Berkeley, CA
September 20 1996 Premiere
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Los Angeles, CA
September 27 1996 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Tuscon, AZ
October 2 1996 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Chicago, IL
October 9 1996 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Washington, D.C.
October 29 1996 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Philadelphia, PA
January 7 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Pittsburgh, PA
January 25 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Sarasota, FL
January 29 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Paris, France
July 26 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Edinburgh, Scotland
August 11 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – Roy's Joy (preview) | Tharp!
Vienna, VA
August 19 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
New York, NY
October 4 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Teatro Albéniz
Madrid, Spain
November 4 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Lisbon, Portugal
November 10 1997 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Sydney, Australia
January 20 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
St. Louis, MO
February 28 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – Yemaya (premiere) | Tharp!
Stanford, CA
March 13 1998 Premiere
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
New Haven, CT
March 20 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Yemaya – Baker's Dozen | Tharp!
Miami, FL
April 3 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
Prague, Czech Republic
June 24 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – "66" | Tharp!
London, United Kingdom
August 4 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – Yemaya | Tharp!
Campinas, Brazil
November 8 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – Yemaya | Tharp!
Salvador, Brazil
November 10 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – Yemaya | Tharp!
Sao Paulo, Brazil
November 13 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – Yemaya | Tharp!
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
November 18 1998 TTD Performance
Tharp!
Heroes – Sweet Fields – Yemaya | Tharp!
Santiago, Chile
November 21 1998 TTD Performance
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998