Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I liked the structure of ballet.
I've let my body soften. I've let it relax.
You have to decide when it is time to move on.
I've always felt like a different kind of ballerina.
I love that moment of, 'Remember when?' I love to waft.
I have a lot of energy, a lot of interest, a lot of desire.
My art form is my child, and that's what I give my focus to.
When you are a kid, you find so much comfort in dancing. I was comforted.
I feel the ticking clock. And at times, I've said if I don't dance, I'd rather die.
As ballerinas, we don't use our voices. Our voice is the body and the movement quality.
I look back, and I have no regrets, truly. Everything led me to the place where I am now.
Aging gracefully means being flexible, being open, allowing change, enjoying change and loving yourself.
A lot of my career and my drive and my passion and my striving to be better and better was built on insecurity.
Being a ballerina, you don't ever want to show yourself less than perfect, ever. That's what your goal is: 24/7 perfection.
We are constantly revealing ourselves to each other through our movement; learning from and teaching each other without even trying.
I was dancing on Broadway for many years. Then everyone was either getting injured or retiring, and I was dancing with younger dancers.
I was so comfortable with my ballet power, my dancer power, that to have a voice, the comfort with having a voice, is slower to come to me.
I think the leotard for me became, after I retired, a sort of a symbol of the confines of still fitting into the ballet world in mind and body.
I knew I wanted to be a ballet dancer, but what kind, I wasn't sure. My two dream companies had been New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater.
I really miss dancing all day long. But something I really love is not dancing all day long. I love that I can't rely on dancing all day long to stay creative.
I always looked at the process and the career of being a ballerina as sacred. It's a true gift to have this talent and perform these masterworks; it's sublime.
The moment is everything. Don't think about tomorrow; don't think about yesterday: think about exactly what you're doing right now and live it and dance it and breath it and be it.
You have to decide when it is time to move on. I was dancing on Broadway for many years. Then everyone was either getting injured or retiring and I was dancing with younger dancers.
Any time I've performed on one of the major stages, whether it be Covent Garden or the Paris Opera or the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky, those are really the top memorable moments for me.
Sometimes I miss being en pointe, but not a whole lot. Every once and a while, I would love to float for a minute on a shoe. But for the most part, I did it long enough that it's OK.
I really only had one audition in my life, and that was when I was 14 or 15. When I was that young, I listened to what my teachers would say, like wearing a certain kind of leotard that you'll be noticed in.
Certain people have certain ways of focusing on things, and some arrange their lens to a pinhole in order to focus only on their goal. Others have a giant lens, and they take in the whole panorama. I was that pinhole kind of person.
There are many ways to lead a life. It would always be ideal to have a paycheck coming in. But I really love this fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants approach. It's scary and wonderful at the same time. I feel very open to many possibilities.
So much is made about the beginnings of ballet careers, the rosebud, and then once the petals and leaves start falling off, is it beautiful anymore? Some people think it is; some people don't. The expectation is to focus on the very beautiful parts, not the ending.
As I aged and I got stronger artistically, I really started to value my voice in performance - my 'voice' meaning my body, my technique, and my style. Then I started to really feel that flower as well. That's when I started to feel like, 'Wow - now I understand what my beauty is.'