Perfect practice makes perfect.

Solitude is an unavoidable part of creativity. Self-reliance is a happy by-product.

A young person has to start making decisions for themselves at a much earlier age than an overbearing parent allows one.

Don’t sign on for more problems than you must. Resist the temptation to involve yourself in other people’s zones of expertise and responsibility. Monitor troublesome situations if you need to, but don’t insert yourself unless you’re running out of time and a solution is nowhere in sight. In short, stifle your inner control freak.

Creativity is an act of defiance.

I've always thought my creative life began the moment my mother called me Twyla.

I walk into a large white room. It's a dance studio in midtown Manhattan. The room is clean, virtually spotless if you don’t count the thousands of skid marks and footprints left there by dancers rehearsing. Other than the mirrors, the boom box, the skid marks, and me, the room is empty.