Maybe its a generational thing, but I never wanted to be the best black dancer in the world. I just wanted to be the best.

I was a protege; by the age of 10, I was studying with ballet choreographer Anthony Tudor in a class of adults.

Dance is bigger than the physical body. When you extend your arm, it doesn't stop at the end of your fingers, because you're dancing bigger than that; you're dancing spirit.

Maybe its a generational thing, but I never wanted to be the best black dancer in the world. I just wanted to be the best.

The word 'suffering' is not in my vocabulary.

I have been guilty of watching Westerns without acknowledging that Native Americans have gone through the same madness as African Americans. Isn't it extraordinary that sometimes the most offended have not seen others being offended?

I've danced all over the world, and people are people. We cannot cut off from each other in life. In order to lead, you can't do that.