Creative Ambition

Read numbers 8, 9. and 10 of Tharp's creative autobiography (pg. 55-56). I'll print it here for ease:

"What is your creative ambition? To continually improve, so I never think "my time may be over".

What are the obstacles to this ambition? The pettiness of human nature. Mine as well as others.

What are the vital steps to achieving this ambition? I often think of myself as water flowing into a rock. The water eventually finds its way out the other side, but in between it seeks out every hole and channel in the rock. It keeps trickling forward, gathering force until it bursts out on the other side as a raging torrent. That's my career experience. I don't have steps or ladders. I don't improve in steps. I'm the water slapping into the rocks. i gather force and then...explode."

I do think that I share the same creative ambition. I am never satisfied with my work product. I am always trying to improve...to push myself to excel (often to the detriment of my health and well-being, I think). In that way, I am also the single biggest obstacle to realizing this ambition. When I take my eyes off the music and its interpretation and put it on myself, my own ego, my expectations of my singers, circumstances, what others may think of me...I am easily derailed from the objective of excellence. The singular focus of "music first".

The water analogy is a poetic one. The creative experience is fluid, ever changing, dynamic, and powerful. Let's all try and enjoy the ride for the rest of the semester!