Because my profession is the body, it is a relaxation for me to get out of physicality and concentrate on more mental things.

The expression should come from within oneself, conveying the spiritual - something between earth and heaven. And if one runs, one should not seem to touch the ground.

It’s hard to find backbone.I never had crisis of identity. But I think many Americans have it.

I was born to be a ballerina - my physique, my spirit, my feeling for music. What I am can only be expressed in dance. I am an erotic woman and that's what dance is.

All of the very important events in my life happen by chance.

Dancers, many dancers today can do so much technically. You can give them steps that are complicated, then more complicated, pyrotechnical - and they can execute these steps to perfection. But to do simple steps with a pure classical line, that is truly difficult.

It's not possible to be perfect - you can always do something better. I'm never proud of what I've done. Sometimes, I'm not ashamed.