Dancers aren't made of their technique, but their passion.

I had had to learn the difference between the bearable fatigue and the unbearable, the fatigue of fear. The first can be cured by a night's sleep; the second kills.

I want one word on my tombstone - dancer.

Many other women have kicked higher, balanced longer, or turned faster. These are poor substitutes for passion.

I studied the way I danced- to the point of dropping.

I learned three important things in college-to use a library, to memorize quickly and visually, to drop asleep at any time given a horizontal surface and fifteen minutes. What I could not learn was to think creatively on schedule.

To make up a dance, I still need, as I needed then, a pot of tea, walking space, privacy and an idea.