Orange County Register

 Choreographer Twyla Tharp is one of six artists who will receive a Kennedy Center award in December.

Tharp will join fellow honorees Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, The Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey and singer George Jones.

Tharp’s work was last seen in Orange County in August when her new choreography, “Rabbit and Rogue,” was presented by American Ballet Theatre at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Details from Playbill magazine:

The six artists who will receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2008 have been announced.

Recipients of the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors include stage and screen star Morgan Freeman; singer George Jones; Academy Award-winning actress, director and singer Barbra Streisand; Tony-winning choreographer Twyla Tharp; and “The Who” musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey.

The artists will be celebrated at an all-star gala Dec. 7 that will be broadcast later that month on CBS-TV. (The honors will be bestowed Dec. 6 at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.)

In a statement Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman said, “With their extraordinary genius and tenacity, the 2008 Honorees have redefined the way we see, hear and feel the performing arts. We will forever be thankful for the great gifts they have shared with us. Morgan Freeman’s name is synonymous with great screen acting and is one of the most respected performers in American cinema. With his unique voice and extraordinary career endurance, singer George Jones has been instrumental in making country music a vital force in American life. Barbra Streisand’s trailblazing career in music, theater, films, and television is one of the most thrilling spectacles of our culture. Choreographer Twyla Tharp is an American original, whose work has indelibly enriched the vocabulary of modern dance, contemporary ballet, and the Broadway musical. As the heart and soul of the seminal band The Who, songwriters and singers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey transformed the sights and sounds of rock and roll.”

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