The pointes for girls, I always say, have to be like an elephant's trunk; strong and yet flexible and soft.

I cannot move, I cannot even want to move, unless I hear the music first.

Put a man and a girl on stage and there is already a story; a man and two girls, there's already a plot.

First comes the sweat. Then comes the beauty if you're very lucky and have said your prayers.

Ballet dancing is arduous, strenuous activity. Students are engaged in physical training that rivals the training Olympic athletes undergo. At the same time, they strive for physical perfection not for the prowess alone but as a way of achieving the means necessary to express the pure nature of their art.

Choreography is simpler than you think. Just go and do, and don't think so much about it. Just make something interesting.

My muse must come to me on union time.