We must first realize that dancing is an absolutely independent art, not merely a secondary accompanying one. I believe that it is one of the great arts. . . . The important thing in ballet is the movement itself. A ballet may contain a story, but the visual spectacle . . . is the essential element. The choreographer and the dancer must remember that they reach the audience through the eye. It's the illusion created which convinces the audience, much as it is with the work of a magician.

Your eyes is camera and your brain is a file cabinet.

Most ballet teachers in the United States are terrible. If they were in medicine, everyone would be poisoned.

Music must be seen, and dance must be heard

My muse must come to me on union time.

I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.

I am a cloud - in trousers.