When a body moves, it's the most revealing thing. Dance for me a minute, and I'll tell you who you are.
I don't go to a gym, I don't do yoga. I don't do personal training.
I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.
When a dancer comes onstage, he is not just a blank slate that the choreographer has written on. Behind him he has all the decisions he has made in life. Each time, he has chosen, and in what he is onstage, you see the result of those choices. You are looking at the person he is, and the person who, at this point, he cannot help but be Exceptional dancers, in my experience, are also exceptional people, people with an attitude toward life, a kind of quest, and an internal quality. They know who they are, and they show this to you, willingly.
Be. Good. To yourself, to other people, to everything you do. It's a norm of life by which people should try to live. Don't waste time. Be interesting and interested.
No one is born a dancer. You have to want it more than anything.
The more injuries you get, the smarter you get.
I found that dance, music, and literature is how I made sense of the world... it pushed me to think of things bigger than lifes daily routines... to think beyond what is immediate or convenient.
Divinity of art, it's such a mystery. How to convince people that no matter how much money you can spend on education and art education especially, that it implants, it directs a young person for the rest of their lives, and always in the most humane and positive and dignified manner.
It doesn't matter how high you lift your leg. The technique is about transparency, simplicity, making an earnest attempt.
Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun.
There comes a moment in a young artist's life when he knows he has to bring something to the stage from within himself. He has to put in something in order to be able to take something.
No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business.
Dance is an ephemeral, a fleeting art. To describe this momentum, every movement on stage, in words is virtually impossible.
When I see people on the street, I look at how they walk. It's like a signature, a fingerprint.
Perfection is a theory. You cannot be a perfect human being, perfect artist. You cannot be a perfect husband, you cannot be a perfect father probably and probably I am not. But go through your daily routine with hope you will be a little better in all respects, and do something meaningful
The problem is not making up the steps but deciding which ones to keep.
Your body actually reminds you about your age and your injuries - the body has a stronger memory than your mind.
To achieve some depth in your field requires a lot of sacrifices.
Just sit and open your eyes and open your heart. It's dance theater.
Dance is one of the most revealing art forms.
A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought.
What do dancers think of Fred Astaire? It's no secret. We hate him. He gives us a complex because he's too perfect. His perfection is an absurdity. It's too hard to face.
I am not the first straight dancer or the last.
Although I don't gamble in life - I've never played poker - I do gamble on stage. I gamble with myself: 'Can I do this?'
