Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I had once been told my ability to read would only reach that of a ten-year-old, but I was determined to achieve more.
I've come to realise that being on 'Strictly' is like being in another theatre company and performing a live production.
I do a Zumba class at least twice a week, which entertains me and keeps me fit, and I have two dogs that I walk regularly.
I always knew I was a bit different from my friends, had too much energy, and suddenly I could get it all out with ballet.
When I had kids, I had to work out how to keep my stamina up. I learned the power of protein and eating a variety of foods.
I dye my hair, and I use teeth whitening strips. Unless I burnt myself or damaged my skin, I wouldn't have cosmetic surgery.
I've achieved everything I've wanted to achieve, so I'm not scared of failure. I never gave up, however bad the injuries got.
I wore myself out physically and mentally over my career, and I couldn't be there for my daughters in ways I should have been.
I wanted to inspire every little girl who wants to be a dancer to fire their imagination about the joys of being on the stage.
My main vice is Herta frankfurters - it's amazing that they stay fresh for ages. They're not very healthy, but they are my treat.
There are always younger and better dancers fighting to get your place. You get worn down by the fight to try to stay at the top.
A teacher's not going to bother being tough on you for no reason; it's when they're not paying you attention that you should worry.
The best thing is to lie in a warm Epsom salts bath for 15 minutes and then go straight to bed. You will sleep really well afterwards.
I'm not a big cook at all, but anything easy and quick, like pasta, I'm up to. My husband cooks for me because he finds cooking relaxing.
I've got that personality where I've always been determined. As a dancer, I was constantly improving and perfecting. I guess it's innate.
Sometimes I regret that I don't have a bit more fun with money. I should have spoilt myself a bit more. Life isn't going to last for ever.
I need help to ensure I grow old gracefully! So now I always apply moisturiser and foundation with an SPF, to protect my skin from the sun.
Over the years, I've had two ankle operations, torn my hamstring, had my hip resurfaced, and snapped the anterior cruciate ligament in my knee.
I hate throwing personal things away, especially my cards. As I know I won't be dancing for ever, these are the things that I will look back on.
My husband is Australian, and my family is scattered around the U.K. and France mostly, but we try to get a big group together for the holidays.
For every dancer, no matter how amazing your career, there's more to life than ballet. Being adored by your audience, it's only part of the story.
I don't see anything negative about dance. It is so good for you, mentally and physically, and so for me to promote it is the easiest thing to do.
For me, in my life, dyslexia has been a little bit of a blessing. It helped me find my strength and directed me towards what I really wanted to do.
Diets don't come into it. You need variety and to have a good source of greens, protein, and nutrition. It is about health rather than looking right.
I did ballet from the age of five, but what I loved was my gymnastics. I kept the ballet going because of the gymnastics, then found I was going to be too tall.
If I start something, I have to finish it. I know that's annoying - it drives my husband mad - but even if something's not going my way, I have to see it through.
I didn't worry too much about staying in shape once I'd stopped dancing. You get to the point where you just burn out and have to give your body a chance to heal.
Being a full-time mother is one of the biggest jobs in the world; it's like another career for me. I love every moment of it - even the challenge of making cupcakes.
I'm a grazer by nature - fruit, nuts - but I try to discipline myself and sit down for regular meals when the girls are around, as I want to instil good habits in them.
You have to be able to cut off from the ballet and relax, or you have anxiety dreams at night, worrying about what you're going to dance the next day, going over every little detail.
Dancers are working their bodies just like a marathon runner would, and you have to eat to make it through a three-hour performance. Dancers put their bodies through incredible strain.
The orthopaedic surgeon said that if ever I had hip or groin pain, I should rest until the pain went. However, resting is not part of a dancer's life - so I just danced through the pain.
Ballet requires movements which are very unnatural. With every step, you do a circular movement of the hip. You turn out from the hip and make your knees point out to the side instead of forward.
I do feel blessed to have small ears - I've never felt self-conscious when my hair is swept back. My feet are a different story - I grew up being painfully aware of them because they are so long.
I joined the Royal Ballet School when I was 13. Before then, I'd done ballet twice a week after school. The rest of my class had started aged 11, so I'd missed two years and was really far behind.
Ever since I've given up dancing, every physiotherapist or Pilates teacher has said you have to keep moving. If I don't, I'll have a hundred times more injuries because you get weak areas on your body.
When I was a teenager, I used to watch the 'Making Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'' video and try to follow the steps and do the 'Thriller' moves in my bedroom. That was the most incredible dance sequence.
Classical ballet is very extreme. You're doing it six days a week, and it's a kind of obsession of perfecting a move. So every muscle in your body has been stretched and tightened, stretched and tightened.
When I started, there was a very strong image of what the ballerina was supposed to be in her tights and her costume, and then I started doing photo shoots in bomber boots, and it wasn't seen as the done thing.
I've always been quite conscious of it, though I don't know why. I would never overspend, and I have to know exactly what I've got so that I avoid going into overdraft. I watch my pennies, and I'm quite thrifty.
Now I'm on television, I'm far more conscious of my skin than I used to be - I would often leave the theatre with layers of pancake make-up still on my face, but on a medium such as TV, I have to be more fastidious.
It is entertainment; we mustn't forget that. Dance is entertainment. You can have the best technicians in the world, but they'll be boring to watch. It has to be about entertainment as well, but it's quality, grace.
Ballet is a healthy world despite what people might think. There's a perception that ballet dancers are skinny and unhealthy, but that's rubbish. You have to be strong, so eating regularly and healthily is essential.
I was incredibly supple and did gymnastics as well. So half of my injuries are because I am over-supple and the joints could always go that little bit further. But I was happy to push, and I have no regrets. That is important to say.
I know, for me, dance did inspire me. Not just in how I feel but that confidence of being able to hold myself and come into a room and just feel comfortable with my body and how I stand and how you present yourself and just how you wear clothes, even.
As a little girl, I didn't dream of being a ballet dancer; I dreamt of being a movie star like Ginger Rogers and dancing with Fred Astaire. I used to watch the Sunday double-bills on TV and Iong to be part of what seemed a perfect Disneyland world. Astaire was a genius.
Fonteyn was our first proper British ballerina, and from the moment I started dancing, her image engulfed me. In my first year at the Royal Ballet School, Margot's statue was outside my dormitory. Like generations of budding ballet dancers before me, I used to touch her middle finger for luck.
When I was at the Royal Ballet School, I remember receiving my first eyeshadow palette from Marks & Spencer as a gift. It sparked my interest in beauty, which peaked when I became more involved in theatre and got to experience so many stunning image transformations to suit different productions.
Before a show, I usually give myself two-and-a-half hours to get ready. I prepare my shoes first. New ballet pumps can sound like tap shoes. You have to take the noise out of them by hitting them against stone. It takes half an hour to do each pair, and I can go through three pairs in one night.
I loved gymnastics, and my gymnastics teacher said ballet was essential to help my dance routines in competitions. I only really went because my friends were going as well. It wasn't this kind of hidden love. Then, slowly, my friends stopped going and I thought, 'I like this. I am going to stay.'