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 had two sisters, and we would love to get dressed up and pretend that we were chic, sophisticated ladies. And I think that was a great sort of preparation, in a way.

Once I started dancing, I was not the spoiled brat or the rebellious child that I was as a child.

I set as my goal to be the best dancer I could be. Not the most famous, or the highest paid dancer, just the best I could be. Out of this discipline came great freedom and calm.

I could work out a lot of my emotions by going to class and dancing.

But what was my motivation was music, and the fact that I love to move around. I'm always moving around.

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.