Ballet's image of perfection is fashioned amid a milieu of wracked bodies, fevered imaginations, Balkan intrigue and sulfurous hatreds where anything is likely, and dancers know it. — Shana Alexander
A ballerina takes steps given to her and makes them her own. Each individual brings something different to the same role. — Maria Tallchief
I think most dancers would agree that the art of ballet chooses the dancer, not the other way around. — Kevin McKenzie
Ballet found me. I was discovered by a teacher in middle school. I always danced, my whole life. I never had any training, never was exposed to seeing dance, but I always had something inside of me. — Misty Copeland
I love ballet. Ballet is its own being. It has its own vocabulary. I feel as if I am in a different world when I am in the ballet studio. — Sayings
I'm still trying to change the way people see black dancers that we can become delicate dancers, that we can be a ballerina. — Michaela DePrince
What's so wonderful about ballet is that it's mind-driven physicality. It's almost a Greek ideal of body, mind, and form. — Edward Villella
Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays. — George Balanchine
The ballet is a purely female thing; it is a woman, a garden of beautiful flowers, and man is the gardener. — George Balanchine
Dancers aren't pompous; they're too tired. — Jose Limon
You cannot dance an arabesque in 'Swan Lake' and 'Nutcracker' the same way. — Natalia Makarova
Dancers work and live from the inside. They drive themselves constantly producing a glow that lights not only themselves but audience after audience. — Murray Louis
Ballet Quotes
When I miss class for one day, I know it. When I miss class for two days, my teacher knows it. When I miss class for three days, the audience knows it. — Rudolf Nureyev
You can do anything you want, even if you are being told negative things.stay strong and find motivation. — Misty Copeland
The ballet of the good city sidewalk never repeats itself from place to place, and in any one place is always replete with new improvisations. — Jane Jacobs
In my ballets, woman is first. Men are consorts. God made men to sing the praises of women. They are not equal to men: They are better. — George Balanchine
There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them. — Vicki Baum
I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance. — George Balanchine
The Dance: A minimum of explanation, a minimum of anecdotes - and a maximum of sensations. — Maurice Bejart
Master technique and then forget about it and be natural. — Anna Pavlova
If I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it — Isadora Duncan
I do everything the man does, only backwards and in high heels! — Ginger Rogers
Ballerina Quotes
My body is very different from most of the dancers I dance with. My hair is different than most I dance with. But I didn't let that stop me. Black girls rock and can be ballerinas. — Misty Copeland
Above all, I wanted to be appreciated as a prima ballerina who happened to be a Native American, never as someone who was an American Indian ballerina. — Maria Tallchief
Never be afraid to be a poppy in a field of daffodils. — Michaela DePrince
It's very easy to become selfish and narrow-minded and see ballet as the only thing in life, but there's lots more. — Darcey Bussell
Dance is not an exercise. Dance is an art. — Alicia Alonso
Having limits to push against is how you find out what you can do. — Sylvie Guillem
I was a ballerina. I had to quit after I injured a groin muscle. It wasn't mine. — Rita Rudner
I danced with the London Festival at Covent Garden. I'm a ballerina by trade; I'm a ballerina who sings by the way. — Jane Seymour
I never knew I wanted to become a ballerina. I was discovered at the age of 13. I had a love for movement even though I had no exposure to dance other than what I saw in music videos, like hip-hop music videos. But I knew that I loved moving. — Misty Copeland
Ballet Shoes Quotes
Technical perfection is insufficient. It is an orphan without the true soul of the dancer. — Sylvie Guillem
I had to do a tango with Raft and I learned to dance in ballet shoes with my knees bent. — Marie Windsor
Please send me your last pair of shoes, worn out with dancing as you mentioned in your letter, so that I might have something to press against my heart. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
You can imagine me as a kid growing up in redneck Texas with ballet shoes, tucking the violin under my arm. I had to fight my way up. — Patrick Swayze
A brand-new pair of toe shoes presents itself to us as an enemy with a will of its own that must be tamed. — Toni Bentley
I take class. I'm always ballet ready. I'm ready to go - got my tights and my shoes. — Joan Chen
It takes a lot of money to be a part of the ballet world. Both the training and the supplies are expensive, the shoes, the leotards and the tights. — Misty Copeland
Ballet really lends itself to that because there's such a sense of ritual, with wrapping the shoes every day and preparing new shoes for every performance. It's such a process. It's almost religious, in nature. — Natalie Portman
The worst thing about me is my toes. I've thick joints from wearing pointe ballet shoes - I went to a dance school from the age of 11 and danced every day. — Pixie Lott
Dad worked in a warehouse when I was little and I didn't see him for three years as he was doing all the overtime God gave him to buy me new ballet shoes, or a new tutu. — Jennifer Ellison
Ballet Class Quotes
When you take dancing lessons, you learn steps and you learn steps and you learn steps. It can go on for a long time. And then one day, you just learn to dance, and it is so different. — Bill Austin
Every teacher will tell you that you cannot dance classical technique with perfection, there is no such thing, there is no way. So you have to adapt the technique to your abilities or to your deficiencies. Learn to cheat! — Jiri Kylian
On the other hand, I think it is wonderful for everyone to take ballet classes, at any age. It gives you a discipline, it gives you a place to go. It gives you some control in your life. — Suzanne Farrell
My first ballet class was on a basketball court. I'm in my gym clothes and my socks trying to do this thing called ballet. — Misty Copeland
The vocabulary and manner of classical ballet express a high order of discipline and restraint, a sense of harmony with forces larger and more lasting than the individual. — Marcia Siegel
I grew up with classical music when I was a ballet dancer. Now when I have to prepare an emotional scene, to cry or whatever, I listen to sonatas. Vivaldi and stuff. It's just beautiful to me. — Diane Kruger
I got kicked out of ballet class because I pulled a groin muscle. It wasn't mine. — Rita Rudner
My sisters did ballet when we were younger and I remember sitting in the car with my dad and going 'can we hurry up and go surfing!?, I'm sick of waiting for my sisters and their ballet classes.' — Stephanie Gilmore
Ballet Teachers Quotes
The teacher doesn't teach, not really. The teacher offers stimulation and ways in which the person can educate himself or herself. At best the teacher wakes up that person and makes a person hungry. — Murray Louis
Most ballet teachers in the United States are terrible. If they were in medicine, everyone would be poisoned. — George Balanchine
Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It's the rhythym of your life. — Jacques d'Amboise
I was called a bookish child. Mother sent me to a ballet teacher in Cincinnati when I was nine years old. I guess I was an awkward child and the family wanted me to be graceful. When I found out I liked to dance and people seemed to like to watch me, I was determined to go places. — Vera-Ellen
I have a sister who is a dancer and dance teacher. We grew up dancing together. I wanted to become a ballerina when I was a kid, so she and I were always at ballet conservatories and going to school with our hair in buns. — Mary Elizabeth Winstead
I want to be a lawyer, a dancer, an actress, a mother, a wife, a childrens author, a distance runner, a poet, a pianist, a pet store owner, an astronaut, an environmental and humanitarian activist, a psychiatrist, a ballet teacher, and the first woman president. — Rachel Corrie
I started with ballet and then my cousin Sarah introduced me to her tap teachers. — Adam Garcia
I wasn't a ballet baby. My first dance class was in an outdoor pavilion when I was three. It was called 'creative movement.' The teacher gave us chiffon scarves in beautiful colors. She turned on some music and said, 'Now go dance.' So for me, dance has always been about self-expression. — Carrie Ann Inaba
I'm so fair that I didn't go in the sun as a child. When all my friends were on the beach, I was going to ballet. The teachers there didn't like you going in the sun, so I never did. — Miranda Otto
Pointe Dancers Quotes
Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it. — Martha Graham
People tend to look at dancers like we are these little jewels, little cardboard cut outs, and yet we have blood and guts and go through Hell. — Susan Jaffe
The physical language of the body is so much more powerful than words. — Bill Irwin
I've reached a point where I'm comfortable in my own skin, and I do what I need to do, to feel good, but I'm built the way I am. The dancer's feet, the bruises on my legs, they're not going to go away. I think real girls have bruises. Tough chicks get bruised. They get dirty. And they have fun. — Nina Dobrev
Many other women have kicked higher, balanced longer, or turned faster. These are poor substitutes for passion. — Agnes De Mille
It takes ten years, usually, to make a dancer. It takes ten years of handling the instrument, handling the material with which you are dealing, for you to know it completely. — Martha Graham
There is fatigue so great that the body cries, even in its sleep. — Martha Graham
On dancing on pointe: Why don't they just get taller girls? — Henny Youngman
There are three steps you have to complete to become a professional dancer: learn to dance, learn to perform, and learn how to cope with injuries. — David Gere
Toe dancing is a dandy attention getter, second only to screaming. — Agnes De Mille
Classical Dance Quotes
Dance every performance as if it were your last. — Erik Bruhn
I’ve learned what ‘classical’ means. It means something that sings and dances through sheer joy of existence. — Gustav Holst
Yeah, I always listen to both classic and newer folk-influenced music. Singer-songwriter, alternative music. I also listen to more experimental dance music. — Brad Delson
Classic Van Halen made people want to dance and f**k. Modern Van Halen makes you want to drink milk and drive foreign cars. — David Lee Roth
Indian classical dance is sustained by a profound philosophy. Form seeks to merge with the formless, motions seek to become a part of the motionless, and the dancing individual seeks to become one with the eternal dance of the cosmos. — Nita Ambani
Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion. — Martha Graham
Dance for yourself. If someone understands, good. If not, no matter. — Louis Horst
Sing like no one is listening.
Love like you’ve never been hurt.
Dance like nobody’s watching,
and live like it’s heaven on earth. — Susanna Clarke
Dance till the stars come down from the rafters
Dance, Dance, Dance 'till you drop. — W. H. Auden
Dance is like life. It exists as you are flitting through it, and when it's over, it's done. — Jerome Robbins
Swan Lake is the most difficult thing to portray for a female ballet dancer; it really requires such specific qualities of articulation, agility, strength, and the arm work is something that takes a lot of training. — Benjamin Millepied
When she goes about her kitchen duties, chopping, carving, mixing, whisking, she moves with the grace and precision of a ballet dancer, her fingers plying the food with the dexterity of a croupier. — Craig Claiborne
Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order. — Samuel Beckett
Young dancers are training at a very vulnerable time in their lives... So train the whole person, not just the dancer. — Deborah Bull
Figure skating has been a great influence for me. I took dance at the School of American Ballet, which helped my own skating. And whether you are a skater or a dancer, without sounding narcissistic, it is all about looking in the mirror. — Vera Wang
Dance is like wine; it matures with every performance. — Alarmel Valli
There are times when the simple dignity of movementcan fulfill the function of a volume of words. — Doris Humphrey
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth. — William Watson Purkey
Love is a lot like dancing; you just surrender to the music. — Pierce Brosnan
Dancers aren't made of their technique, but their passion. — Agnes De Mille
All dancers have a cumulative tendency, because each beat of the tom-tom has an almost irresistible appeal. Soon, those who were just spectators would dance too. — Camara Laye
I'm a classical ballet dancer, and at the end of the day I want to be with American Ballet Theater, performing classical ballets. — Misty Copeland
Civil servants and priests, soldiers and ballet-dancers, schoolmasters and police constables, Greek museums and Gothic steeples, civil list and services list -- the common seed within which all these fabulous beings slumber in embryo is taxation. — Karl Marx
Freedom to a dancer means discipline. That is what technique is for -- liberation. — Martha Graham
When other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers I kind of wanted to be a vampire. — Angelina Jolie
...all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill in dancing. — Moliere
I set as my goal to be the best dancer I could be. Not the most famous, or the highest paid dancer, just the best I could be. Out of this discipline came great freedom and calm. — Suzanne Farrell
Beauty, like male ballet dancers, makes some men afraid. — Mordecai Richler
Ballet is only good when it is great. — Arlene Croce
Dancing is a very living art. It is essentially of the moment, although a very old art. A dancer's art is lived while he is dancing. Nothing is left of his art except the pictures and the memories--when his dancing days are over. — Martha Graham
I was embarrassed that I even wanted to become an actress because coming from L.A., with two older sisters in the business and a mom who had been a ballet dancer, it was such a cliche. — Elizabeth Olsen
Nobody cares if you can't dance well. — Martha Graham
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