Have you ever asked yourself, “Who am I?” Are we always so busy with our daily lives that we never take time for ourselves? Meet Anne Tyler Harshbarger, known as Anne Tyler, a principal ballerina for 14 seasons at the Houston and Atlanta Ballets. Consumed with dance classes, rehearsals, and stage performances, she always gave of herself while striving for perfection on stage. As her love of music broadened from classical to electronic dance, she became a DJ for club scenes in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Houston. During the summer, she was the resident DJ at Spain’s Ibiza’s mega-club Amnesia, known as the best dance club in the world, with 4,000 partygoers dancing from sunset to sunrise as Anne Tyler mixed the music.
Having achieved her goal as a professional ballerina by performing extraordinary ballets throughout the world, she retired at the peak of her career to pursue herself. After becoming one of the most sought-after lady DJs in the club scene, she decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue herself more. Making a living partly by dancing and partly as a DJ and actress, Anne Tyler seems to need constant inspiration and evolution as an artist, commenting that “achievement, satisfaction, happiness, and the creative process are so very important to me… together with the people I meet along the journey.”
So many wannabe actresses come to LA for fame and fortune, and after six months of casting calls while working as waitresses, they return home. With self-confidence beyond measure, Anne Tyler has taken a different approach by using her life experiences of stage performing, connecting with music and perseverance to flourish in work, love, and life, all while finding her true self and letting it all become one.
Her life is coming together for a greater purpose as she shares her passions with others. Besides her obvious talents of dance, acting, and DJing, Anne Tyler collaborates in the spiritual arts of movement, color, and music therapies used by Tibetan monks for centuries. Implementing these therapies is the art of introducing different spectral hues, sounds, and movement into the human body for the purpose of promoting health, balance, and well-being. As professed by Tibetan monks, “The goal is to maintain a constant state of intentional awareness and prayer, infusing this energy into every thought and worldly action.”
Having an open mind and willingness to experience these unconventional methods allowed Anne Tyler to find who she was, truly living each day to the fullest along life’s journey. Gazing across the room and then turning back toward me, she reflected by saying, “If you are right from within, then everyone around you benefits. Using dance and music is a way to tap into who we are and shed these false notions of who we should be or who society thinks we should be. By knowing ‘me,’ I feel less anxious about the future, less nit-picky about the past, and I truly enjoy life one day at a time.”
Through the use of social media, an increasing number of young adults today share postings and blogs professing their need for self-expression. Art in its different forms such as visual, dance, and music is becoming the universal language of love, and Anne Tyler participates in the art of love to all.
After moving to Los Angeles, some of Anne’s friends may think that she joined a religious cult and now lives on another planet. Other friends truly understand the power of meditation and spiritual arts, and realize that Anne has it all together. From my perspective, Anne Tyler is an amazing young woman who is certainly in touch with herself, something that will allow her talents to come together for a greater purpose. Maybe all of us should ask ourselves: “Who am I?”
In addition to Anne Tyler’s extraordinary talents, she has been described as “the most beautiful ballerina” in decades. Always feeling comfortable whether wearing a trendy blouse and shorts in the park, or dressing up for an evening at the theater, Anne Tyler joined Cliché’s Terry Check for a photo shoot in downtown Los Angeles.
Anne Tyler Interview: Photographed by Terry Check
