As performer, rehearsal director, and stager Richard Colton has worked with Twyla Tharp since 1972 and has performed in her works as a member of Joffrey Ballet, Twyla Tharp Dance (1977-88) and American Ballet Theatre. He was in the premieres of Tharp classics Nine Sinatra Songs, In the Upper Room, Baker’s Dozen, As Time Goes By, and Deuce Coupe. He appears in the films Hair, Amadeus, and the PBS Great Performances presentation of The Catherine Wheel, with music by David Byrne, all choreographed by Tharp. He has staged Tharp’s work for companies including American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opéra Ballet, The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, among others. He founded and directs, with Amy Spencer, Summer Stages Dance @ The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, a residency for the creation of new, collaborative work by dance makers, visual artists, writers and musicians. He was a member of The White Oak Dance Project, directed by Mikhail Baryshnikov.