Great Throughts Treasury

"Choreographers use me as the old guy who still dances. Not that I put on white tights."

"A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought."

"Astaire was not a sexual animal, but he made his partners look so extraordinarily related to him."

"Dance is one of the most revealing art forms."

"Dancers are made, not born."

"Dancing can reveal all the mystery that music conceals."

"Although I don't gamble in life - I've never played poker - I do gamble on stage. I gamble with myself: 'Can I do this?'"

"Creative Artists Agency put together a project of extraordinary mediocrity and colossal stupidity. Otherwise, it was great."

"Dancers are stripped enough onstage. You don't have to know more about them than they've given you already."

"Dances have a second and third life. You feel they are never ready. They always have a chance for another life."

"Dancing is my obsession. My life."

"Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun."

"I - you know, I'm not an actor."

"Film, theater and television always kind of scared me. I don't ever seriously think of myself as an actor at all, and I don't plan any film career or television career."

"Every ballet, whether or not successful artistically or with the public, has given me something important."

"I adored my mother, and I will always have extraordinary memories about her and remember her, and she opened the doors for me to appreciate arts."

"I am a performer. I go on stage and make a fool of myself."

"Everything I do, it's a bit painterly. I like being surrounded by objects, mostly on paper. I like the images. I like the painting. I like good photography. It's something that makes me an emotional connection, and I feel comfortable around it."

"I am not the first straight dancer or the last."

"I am not trying to do material which I cannot do full out."

"I cannot belong to a nonprofit organization because when you receive grants, you have to make such great compromises with your artistic plans."

"I am teaching more. That is what I do best."

"I cannot stand authority."

"I cannot draw to save my life, and I'm not a big art scholar, but I worked with many designers throughout my career - in theater, in dance, costume designers, set designers, and I have a lot of artist friends and I do photography, and I think it's kind of in my life."

"I don't go to a gym, I don't do yoga. I don't do personal training."

"I don't drink milk, and I don't eat bread, pasta or rice. But I eat a lot of meat, chicken, fish and salads."

"I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself."

"I don't want to do anything Freudian."

"I don't see in myself any perfection."

"I feel very uneasy with a lot of aspects of the Russian life and the Russian people."

"I fell in love with New York. It was like every human being, like any relationship. When I was a young New Yorker, it was one city. When I was a grown man, it was another city. I worked with many dance organizations and many wonderful people."

"I found that dance, music, and literature is how I made sense of the world... it pushed me to think of things bigger than life's daily routines... to think beyond what is immediate or convenient."

"I go a lot to see young people downtown in little theaters. It's great. If you start somebody's career, it's so exciting."

"I get speeding ticket like everybody else. If the restaurant is full I'm waiting in line like everybody else."

"I hated life in the Soviet Union. You had to pretend something you didn't feel."

"I have been very lucky to work in so many new ballets, but that is what a dancer's work is."

"I have made mistakes."

"I have some Russian friends. But probably only 10 percent. I don't hang out usually in the big Russian communities in Brooklyn and New Jersey."

"I have the life of seven cats."

"I like to go to anybody else's birthday, and if I'm invited I'm a good guest. But I never celebrate my birthdays. I really don't care."

"I miss horribly those couple of hours before the performance when you get into the theater and you see people."

"I know when I am on stage and I'm kind of on the right track - hopefully most of the time. But a lot of time I'm not."

"I kind of lost interest in the classical dance. I was very much interested in the modern choreography."

"I myself didn't agree with many of his choices. But I am not entitled to raise my objections. It's the same with a choreographer. If you commit, you should be a good foot soldier. This is not the place to be a general. [on being directed by Dmitry Krymov in a play, 2011]"

"I never liked dance photography; it's very flat, and dance photography in the studio looks very contrived."

"I read Russian literature a lot."

"I really reject that kind of comparison that says, Oh, he is the best. This is the second best. There is no such thing."

"I like to make my own mistakes."

"I remember vividly seeing 'Tarzan' and Fred Astaire, the Chaplin films, Fred Astaire musicals, MGM, because of my mother. She was just interested in everything and she took me to opera and ballet, and then ballet got me hooked."

"I spend at least a couple hours a day in the studio, every day, whether I'm dancing or not."