--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me…" description: "\"When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because it was just the flip side of being really successful.\" — Twyla Tharp" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/twyla-tharp-1069_avant-garde_when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-w_1609393.png" --- # When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because… ![“When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because it was just the flip side of being really successful.” quote by Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/twyla-tharp-1069_avant-garde_when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-w_1609393.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/twyla-tharp-1069_avant-garde_when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-w_1609393.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/twyla-tharp-1069_avant-garde_when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-w_1609393.png) > “When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because it was just the flip side of being really successful.” [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The avant‑garde seemed dull to a child because it appeared merely as the opposite of conventional success. **In simple terms:** Avant‑garde felt boring as it seemed the flip side of success. Key Takeaway Recognize value in unconventional ideas. Themes creativity perception success conformity Mood reflective curious Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - education - art appreciation - career development - innovation - personal growth Key Concepts artistic rebellion cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - How does early exposure shape taste? - Can success be defined beyond mainstream? A Different Perspective The quote reflects personal bias; others may find avant‑garde exciting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Avant garde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avant-garde/) [Because](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/because/) [Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being/) [Boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boring/) [Boring Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boring-just-510365/) [Flip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flip/) [Flip Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flip-really-1202008/) [Garde Boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garde-boring-6134981/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Just Flip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-flip-253555/) [Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kid/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really/) [Side](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/side/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) ## Related quotes > [When you flip anything, you really you just have to have the courage of your convictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/when-you-flip-anything-you-really-you-just-have-to-have-the-courage/) [Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/) > [“Life is like Tetris; if it doesn't fit, just flip it over”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabine-hein/life-is-like-tetris-if-it-doesn-t-fit-just-flip-it-over/) [Sabine Hein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabine-hein/) > [If you are struck between two options, just flip a coin in the air! It works. Not because it solves the problem . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/if-you-are-struck-between-two-options-just-flip-a-coin-in-the-air-it/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) > [You can be first, and then in six games, you can be 12th. The results can just flip, and everybody can forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riyad-mahrez/you-can-be-first-and-then-in-six-games-you-can-be-12th-the-results/) [Riyad Mahrez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riyad-mahrez/) > [When the world looks upside down Just flip the camera the other way around :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-faith/when-the-world-looks-upside-down-just-flip-the-camera-the-other-way/) [Rachel Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-faith/) > [I love a bit of drama. That's a bad thing. I can flip really quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adele/i-love-a-bit-of-drama-that-s-a-bad-thing-i-can-flip-really-quickly/) [Adele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adele/) > [It's so boring to just hire a fancy caterer and have them do everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-miller/it-s-so-boring-to-just-hire-a-fancy-caterer-and-have-them-do/) [Nicole Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-miller/) > [I spent some time in France, visited Egypt and Mexico City. I hung out, biked around, planted some tomatoes. I did everything except wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/feist/i-spent-some-time-in-france-visited-egypt-and-mexico-city-i-hung-out/) [Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/feist/) > [People that plan interviews are really boring. I just say what I want when it comes into my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boy-george/people-that-plan-interviews-are-really-boring-i-just-say-what-i-want/) [Boy George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boy-george/) > [“That's what I didn't understand about her before: she wasn't boring. She was just bored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-burgess/that-s-what-i-didn-t-understand-about-her-before-she-wasn-t-boring/) [Gemma Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-burgess/) > [How boring just to be a body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/how-boring-just-to-be-a-body/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm boring but I just love a wrestling match.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-dunne/i-m-boring-but-i-just-love-a-wrestling-match/) [Pete Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-dunne/) > [Being boring is just wrong, isn't it? You wouldn't have got anywhere being boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-boring-is-just-wrong-isn-t-it-you-wouldn-t-have-got-anywhere/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [I think in every character there are aspects of yourself that you bring to it. But then it would be really boring to just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-think-in-every-character-there-are-aspects-of-yourself-that-you/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [I tell my friends married life is boring, but that's just a fun thing to say to make single people feel better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/i-tell-my-friends-married-life-is-boring-but-that-s-just-a-fun-thing/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) ## More by Twyla Tharp > [“A lot of habitually creative people have preparation rituals linked to the setting in which they choose to start their day. By putting themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/a-lot-of-habitually-creative-people-have-preparation-rituals-linked/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I have learned over the years that you should never save for two meetings what you can accomplish in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-have-learned-over-the-years-that-you-should-never-save-for-two/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I always find that the best collaborations are when you work with people that know what they're doing, and you leave them alone to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-always-find-that-the-best-collaborations-are-when-you-work-with/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I don't mean this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't really think of pop art and serious art as being that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-don-t-mean-this-but-i-m-going-to-say-it-anyway-i-don-t-really-think/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [The art of these Fifties movies was in sustaining forever the moment before sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/the-art-of-these-fifties-movies-was-in-sustaining-forever-the-moment/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [This is not a pleasant route for many young people to consider. You have to be either hopelessly passionate, or very stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/this-is-not-a-pleasant-route-for-many-young-people-to-consider-you/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I often say that in making dances I can make a world where I think things are done morally, done democratically, done honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-often-say-that-in-making-dances-i-can-make-a-world-where-i-think/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I had received my first establishment grants in response to applications filed the year before. To the pages of baffling forms I had simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-had-received-my-first-establishment-grants-in-response-to/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-find-the-aesthetics-of-the-20th-century-hopelessly-barren/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I don't think that scheduling is uncreative. I think that structure is required for creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-don-t-think-that-scheduling-is-uncreative-i-think-that-structure-is/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [I have always felt one of the things dance should do - its business being so clearly physical - is challenge the culture's gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-have-always-felt-one-of-the-things-dance-should-do-its-business/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [There really is nothing I ever had access to that I didn't appreciate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/there-really-is-nothing-i-ever-had-access-to-that-i-didn-t-appreciate/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [Destiny, quite often, is a determined parent. Mozart was hardly some naive prodigy who sat down at the keyboard and, with God whispering in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/destiny-quite-often-is-a-determined-parent-mozart-was-hardly-some/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [When it all comes together, a creative life has the nourishing power we normally associate with food, love and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/when-it-all-comes-together-a-creative-life-has-the-nourishing-power/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [Things change all the time, so why do people make such a philosophical to-do that things are constantly in transition?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/things-change-all-the-time-so-why-do-people-make-such-a-philosophical/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) [Explore all 298 Twyla Tharp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) ## More Avant garde quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [Well, the reason that I teach at Bard is because it's a largely avant-garde program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-reichardt/well-the-reason-that-i-teach-at-bard-is-because-it-s-a-largely-avant/) [Kelly Reichardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-reichardt/) > [Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/noise-has-taken-the-place-of-punk-rock-people-who-play-noise-have-no/) [Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/) > [I am, it seems, an avant-garde dramatist. It would even seem obvious since I am present here at discussions on the avant-garde theatre. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/i-am-it-seems-an-avant-garde-dramatist-it-would-even-seem-obvious/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [Once you got Hollywood doing these kinds of movies and having all the, how you say, the tools to do it, and also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violante-placido/once-you-got-hollywood-doing-these-kinds-of-movies-and-having-all-the/) [Violante Placido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violante-placido/) > [On the surface the avant garde as a whole seems united primarily in terms of what they are against: the rejection of social institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-innes/on-the-surface-the-avant-garde-as-a-whole-seems-united-primarily-in/) [C. D. Innes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-innes/) > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) [Patrice Pavis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-pavis/) > [“There is nothing more profitable than the extreme avant garde.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvia-hartmann/there-is-nothing-more-profitable-than-the-extreme-avant-garde/) [Silvia Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvia-hartmann/) > [Avant-garde means never having to say you're sorry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ribot/avant-garde-means-never-having-to-say-you-re-sorry/) [Marc Ribot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ribot/) > [“My avant garde planters complete, they now yearned to be occupied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-puchalski/my-avant-garde-planters-complete-they-now-yearned-to-be-occupied/) [Matt Puchalski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-puchalski/) > [Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, it’s not the way. We must find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyorgy-ligeti/now-there-is-no-taboo-everything-is-allowed-but-one-cannot-simply-go/) [Gyorgy Ligeti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyorgy-ligeti/) > [In an avant-garde cooking restaurant, it's the experience that's the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/in-an-avant-garde-cooking-restaurant-it-s-the-experience-that-s-the/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [The avant-garde poet or artist tries in effect to imitate God by creating something valid solely on its own terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-avant-garde-poet-or-artist-tries-in-effect-to-imitate-god-by/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [I like African and avant-garde music, anything that's vaguely interesting. Hard rock I get a bit bored with because it's what I do. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-glover/i-like-african-and-avant-garde-music-anything-that-s-vaguely/) [Roger Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-glover/) [Browse all 202 Avant garde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avant-garde/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because it was just the flip side of being really successful.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Twyla Tharp" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-was-boring-because-it-was-just/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Avant garde" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-was-boring-because-it-was-just/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/twyla-tharp-1069_avant-garde_when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-w_1609393.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/twyla-tharp-1069_avant-garde_when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-w_1609393.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/twyla-tharp-1069_avant-garde_when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-w_1609393.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I was a kid, the avant-garde to me was boring because it was just the flip side of being really…” — Twyla Tharp", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Twyla Tharp", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When I was a kid, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-was-boring-because-it-was-just/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/when-i-was-a-kid-the-avant-garde-to-me-was-boring-because-it-was-just/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```