One is born to be a dancer. No teacher can work miracles, nor will years of training make a good dancer of an untalented pupil. One may be able to acquire a certain technical facility, but no one can ever 'acquire an exceptional talent.' I have never prided myself on having an unusually gifted pupil. A Pavlova is no one's pupil but God's.
George BalanchineMost ballet teachers in the United States are terrible. If they were in medicine, everyone would be poisoned.
George BalanchineGod 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.
George BalanchineBallet 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.
George Balanchine