And I just thought, this is what I want to be. And I knew that dancing would be my chosen profession.

There is pain and sacrifice in everyone's world. That's why, when I was dancing, I had no pain.

I think it was important that I learned to love to dance eventually for its own sake, as opposed to wanting to be a ballerina.

Although we do come from a silent profession, it is important for us to verbalize what we want to say. (As I tell my students): you could love someone all your life, but if you never say it how are they going to know? There comes a point when you have to say what you mean, which makes you scream louder when you dance.

I loved the stage not because it provided an escape from myself or my humdrum life but because when the curtain went up I could be whoever I wanted to be, and that was true freedom - to be myself.

When you are on stage, you don't see faces. The lights are in your eyes and you see just this black void out in front of you. And yet you know there is life out there, and you have to get your message across.

As soon as I hear music, something in me starts to vibrate.