I also had a will that let me eliminate everything that stood in the way of my becoming the best dancer I could be. By a gradual process... (I) had invested every bit of my dreams, my hopes, my energies in defining myself as a dancer.

I understand things that are American, for better or worse.

I had always seen myself as a star; I wanted to be a galaxy.

The necessity to constantly turn in an excellent performance, to be absolutely wedded to this dedication and this ideal means that as a child you're going to pay for it personally.

Optimism with some experience behind it is much more energizing than plain old experience with a certain degree of cynicism.

You only need one good reason to commit to an idea, not four hundred. But if you have four hundred reasons to say yes and one reason to say no, the answer is probably no.

Dance has never been a particularly easy life, and everybody knows that.