I am trying to show the world that we are all human beings and that color is not important. What is important is the quality of our work.

When I was 10, I knew there was something different about me. Everyone was football-mad, but I just wanted to watch musicals and see art.

I am absorbed in the magic of movement and light. Movement never lies. It is the magic of what I call the outer space of the imagination.

There is love there. And then there's times when I can't even stomach Simon. You don't have to sit next to him. That's all I have to say.

Sometimes it's blood memory... not the blood your mother and father gave you... but that which stretches back two or three thousand years.

Dancing is like making love. It has to be a harmony; it has to be about two bodies. When one is like, "I am the good one," it doesn't work.

I sleep - laying down, not on the ceiling. Nothing about my life is crazy. I fly a lot, I travel a lot. I eat and sleep like everyone else.

I was never like, "collect, collect," like people who go to auctions. I never spent a serious amount of time because I don't have any time!

Some people are fascinated by what they know, and some are fascinated by what they don't know. I'm just very interested in what's possible.

I think a lot of people have a vision of L.A. in which TV executives and movie directors plan their latest productions by the swimming pool.

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.

Looking at the past is like lolling in a rocking chair. It is so relaxing and you can rock back and forth on the porch, and never go forward.

Most dancers have no awareness of how they look; half of them think theyre fat. There is anorexia in the ballet world; there are those things.

God creates, I do not create. I assemble and I steal everywhere to do it - from what I see, from what the dancers can do, from what others do.

When's the last time you walked by a pub in Dublin and heard Irish music? When's the last time you ordered a coffee and heard an Irish accent?

It's weird when you see pieces of choreography that were done for you 15 or 20 years ago and now they are being done by another dance company.

I cannot belong to a nonprofit organization because when you receive grants, you have to make such great compromises with your artistic plans.

I have some Russian friends. But probably only 10 percent. I don't hang out usually in the big Russian communities in Brooklyn and New Jersey.

Most dancers have no awareness of how they look; half of them think they're fat. There is anorexia in the ballet world; there are those things.

I personally love to run outdoor fitness trails. I love the meditative value I get when out alone, challenging myself to run faster and higher.

I was very disenchanted in the industry for a long time before I met GaGa. Everyone wanted a "Single Ladies" for their artist, or a Puffy move.

I was very disenchanted in the industry for a long time before I met GaGa. Everyone wanted a 'Single Ladies' for their artist, or a Puffy move.

It is my job to make sure that these kids who are talented get every chance they can and not to be passed over; this is life or death for them.

I've always been excited by the strangeness of ballet, but I can't bear it when people just come forward and do a turn in the air for no reason.

I adored my mother, and I will always have extraordinary memories about her and remember her, and she opened the doors for me to appreciate arts.

My life has been immensely enriched by gay mentors, colleagues and friends, and any discrimination and persecution of gay people is unacceptable.

Theater people are always pining and agonizing because they're afraid that they'll be forgotten. And in America they're quite right. They will be.

When it came to the stylish and graceful art of ballroom dancing, my dad was a king of the clubs, a prowling tiger and a wonderfully natural mover.

I was not extremely patriotic about Mother Russia. I played their game, pretending. You have to deal with, you know, party people, KGB. Horrifying.

Find the passion. It takes great passion and great energy to do anything creative. I would go so far as to say you can't do it without that passion.

You see, dancers are quite mature people because they start performing so early. They become professionals when they start to take everyday classes.

All my life I have been taught to take the high road and never to dignify salacious or false accusations and I have been taught never, never to lie.

One can always lament, you know — but to laugh in the face of life, that's very hard. And for me the great tragedian should also be a great comedian.

You give all your life to doing this one thing. It sounds grim, it sounds frightening - it isn't - it has a great gaiety at times and a great wonder.

The practice mirror is to be used for the correction of faults, not for a love affair, and the figure you watch should not become your dearest friend.

I think showing heroes as fallible helps us and reminds us that we are ourselves fallible and no man is perfect but we can still achieve great things.

To achieve some depth in your field requires a lot of sacrifices. Want to or not, you're thinking about what you're doing in life-in my case, dancing.

I want to play Martin Luther King. That is absolutely a role and a character who is important to the landscape of the world that I really want to play.

All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.

Its roots are in American Negro culture, which is part of the whole country's heritage, but the dance speaks to everyone... Otherwise, it wouldn't work.

I always sleep on my own. I can't sleep with somebody else. Always separate bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. I'm very individual and I want my own space.

I could never make a ballet by wrinkling my brow and concentrating. If you set out deliberately to make a masterpiece, how will you ever get it finished?

Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It's a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.

I'm a believer in presenting something that is worth paying to see. I've always felt lucky in that the work that pleases me pleases other people as well.

'The Dance Scene' is basically the most amazing dance show in the world, and it follows me as a creative director. You see how I maintain that creativity.

If you feel depressed you shouldn't go out on the street because it will show on your face and you'll give it to others. Misery is a communicable disease.

I am certain that movement never lies. There is only one law of posture I have been able to discover - the perpendicular line connecting heaven and earth.

I went to church as a kid, but mainly for the showbiz aspect. I remember doing a solo of 'The Little Drummer Boy' and everyone singing the rup-a-pum-pums.

I wasn't even sure I'd be able to walk. I couldn't even go outside. Maybe I was just burnt crisp from the gruelling schedule I had been keeping for years.

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