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.

I loved tests because it was another form of competing, a healthy competition.

I was very much of a tomboy.

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.

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

I think especially in a world where you have so little say about what goes on in your life, or in the politics of the world around you, it is wonderful to go into that studio, and tell yourself what to do.

The particular ballet was not so important as the fact that I was physically healthy, and capable of getting out there and dancing as often as possible.