Choreographers

"At the physical end, Parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency situation. You want to move in such a way, with any movement, that will help you gain the most ground on someone/something as if escaping from someone/something or chasing toward someone/something. Also, wherever you go, you must be able to get back. If you go from A to B, you need to be able to get back from B to A. You don't need to do the same "move," but just get back.""

"It's about what you can do at that particular moment. If someone is stuck in a fire and you say, "Well, two years ago I could have done something that would have saved you" then you are useless. Parkour is not what you could have done for whatever excuse. If you aren't able to help someone, what use are you?"

"My thing from the beginning is to have it be useful, and be able to help others. It's about being efficient and getting there as fast as you can. If people want to do it more artistically or in a freestyle way, I have absolutely no problem with it — that's the way it's going to evolve. It's not my style, but if it's other people's [style], that's perfect."

"All these people here, they come and they want me to do big things, expect me to do big drops so they can sell pictures, put it on their websites, whatever. But what is my motivation then? I could do this jump once and maybe get hurt, but even if I don't get hurt what is the point right here, right now? To make these people happy? If my family was over there and needed me, I wouldn't even hesitate. I would do it for them and that's who I train and do these things for. I'm not a monkey, I can't be treated like one. I don't understand how people want to put themselves into great risk for money. I've trained so long and hard for myself, to save people, to protect my family... People get into Parkour now just train in order to do risks for media, I just can't understand why they would do so. That was never the goal of Parkour. Money changes people, but that money cannot change my goal, my motivation or why I do this. I'm on tour now for you, I'm here talking to you so you can help others and that's how things work, never think it's the other way around. I'm doing this for you guys, to inspire you, that's it."

"Parkour belongs to the ones who live it, not the ones who want to live thanks to it."

"Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move."

"Understand that this art has been created by few soldiers in Vietnam to escape or reach: and this is the spirit I'd like parkour to keep. You have to make the difference between what is useful and what is not in emergency situations. Then you'll know what is parkour and what is not. So if you do acrobatics things on the street with no other goal than showing off, please don't say it's parkour. Acrobatics existed long time ago before parkour."

"Bare feet are the best shoes!"

"If someone puts you in front of a 30m high wall, tells you to get over it, and then comes back two years later and you're still there, you've made no progress. You should find another wall."

"If you are in front of a wall that you cannot get past, would you just keep banging your head into the wall?... No, you would find a new wall."

"A little backflip (backflips), but it's not part of Parkour, but I like doing this since I did gym."

"Obstacles are found everywhere, and in overcoming them we nourish ourselves."

"Down there we know, the streets we know, but up here? Nobody's been here."

"First, do it. Second, do it well. Third, do it well and fast — that means you're a professional."

"When I was younger, I got into a lot of trouble. Getting the opportunity to dance really got me out of that.”"

"Jumps and turns aren't hard; artistry is. To create a whole new world for the audience, that's the fantasy of ballet."

"The ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story, we’re so past that. I have a very deep respect for art, but I also think we have a lot to learn from pop culture. And that is the future. Either you can ignore it and be stuck in the past, or you can learn from it."

"Book/Play1 (Book/Play1)"

"Book/Play2 (Book/Play2)"

"He just walked away like he was God's gift to the world."

"You dance as if you've already won the competition."

"I think you're talking crap."

"I don’t even know if I’ll ever feel what I did when he finished dancing his solo on Wednesday night’s [2007-08-15] show. When he left the ballet world, he was losing his love of dance, and to me, watching that solo, he came full circle. He came back.”"

"I think Sabra should have won."

"I know very well that I'm not the dancer that Danny is. He's on a completely different level. For the last four years, I've known who he is, and I just wanted to talk to him. So standing there with him tonight [as the final two] was the craziest thing."

"In my opinion Danny was far and away the best."

"This latest skirmish in the high art/low art war has played out most fiercely over Mr. Tidwell, who shocked balletomanes when he left American Ballet Theater in 2005, then added insult to injury by joining the third season of “So You Think You Can Dance.”"

"We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance."

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

"Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion."

"I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable."

"I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each it is the performance of a dedicated set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes the shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes in some areas an athlete of God."

"To practice means to perform, in the face of all obstacles some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired."

"I think the reason dance has held such an ageless magic for the world is that it has been the symbol of the performance of living."

"The most brilliant scientific discoveries will in time change and perhaps grow obsolete as new scientific manifestations emerge. But art is eternal, for it reveals the inner landscape, which is the soul of man."

"Many times I hear the phrase "the dance of life." It is an expression that touches me deeply, for the instrument through which the dance speaks is also the instrument through which life is lived — the human body."

"Dancing appears glamorous, easy, delightful. But the path to paradise of the achievement is not easier than any other. There is fatigue so great that the body cries, even in its sleep. There are times of complete frustration, there are daily small deaths. Then I need all the comfort that practice has stored in my memory, a tenacity of faith."

"The body is shaped, disciplined, honoured, and in time, trusted. The movement becomes clean, precise, eloquent, truthful. Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it. This might be called the law of the dancer's life — the law which governs the outer aspects."

"The main thing, of course, always, is the fact that there is only one of you in the world, just one, and if that is not fulfilled then something has been lost. Ambition is not enough; necessity is everything."

"People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose: I was chosen to be a dancer, and, with that, you live all your life."

"The next time you look into the mirror, just look at the way the ears rest next to the head; look at the way the hairline grows; think of all the little bones in your wrist. It is a miracle. And the dance is a celebration of that miracle."

"I feel that the essence of dance is the expression of mankind — the landscape of the human soul. I hope that every dance I do reveals something of myself or some wonderful thing a human being can be."

"The body is a sacred garment: it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honour, and with joy and with fear as well. But always, though, with blessing."

"I am absorbed in the magic of movement and light. Movement never lies. It is the magic of what I call the outer space of the imagination."

"When you start with an idea, or something hits you, then you have to follow that through to the end, and it's the following through to the end that makes the pattern. That, for me, is choreography."

"Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery — what it all means…"

"I love words very much. I've always loved to talk, and I've always love words — the words that rest in your mouth, what words mean and how you taste them and so on. And for me the spoken word can be used almost as a gesture."

"The erotic element is life, but doesn't have to absorb you, it doesn't have to be a naughty word. It's the love of life in many ways."

"I've always regarded eroticism as a beautiful word. I'm not ashamed to be linked to it. I would be ashamed to be linked to flamboyant sexuality; that's a part of life, but it isn't all of it."

"To me, the only sin is mediocrity."

"I don't try to tell the dancers exactly what a dance means before they do it. I can correct it and tell them what they have done after they have done it, and what it means to me. But I don't say, "Be fearful here," "Be angry here," because I think that is intrusion."

"I think comedy is the most difficult thing in the world, I really do. One can always lament, you know — but to laugh in the face of life, that's very hard. And for me the great tragedian should also be a great comedian."

"Dancing is very like poetry. It's like poetic lyricism, sometimes, it's like the rawness of dramatic poetry, it's like the terror — or it can be like a terrible revelation of meaning. Because when you light on a word it strikes you to your heart."

"To me, the body says what words cannot. I believe that dance was the first art. A philosopher has said that dance and architecture were the first arts. I believe that dance was first because it's gesture, it's communication. That doesn't mean it's telling a story, but it means it's communicating a feeling, a sensation to people. Dance is the hidden language of the soul, of the body. And it's partly the language that we don't want to show."

"I use the words gods and goddesses principally, I think, to mean beautiful bodies — bodies that are absolute instruments. And I believe in discipline, I believe in a very definite technique. You have no right to go before a public without an adequate technique, just because you feel. Anything feels — a leaf feels, a storm feels — what right have you to do that? You have to have speech, and it's a cultivated speech."

"Movement never lies."

"Some of you are doomed to be artists."

"(Women you respect most?) Georgia O'Keeffe, Martha Graham. For reasons plain to all-among them, common to both, an inviolate independence of spirit in pursuing their arts, the wholeness of their gifts of the imagination."

"Let other dance styles inspire and influence your own and remember that there are no boundaries. Dare to be original."

"...it’s your work ethic that is going to get you far, no matter what you do."

"Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the journey, and the hard work and the sacrifices and opportunities it takes to get somewhere, because it will all make you better at what you do when you arrive."

"Be proud of what it is that you’re doing and you’ll do a better job."

"Ask yourself why you [dance]. Don't do it for the wrong reasons. You have to love it because it's a tough business and you're not always going to get to do the cool jobs and those things. So if your heart is in the right place, you will find happiness within the dance."

"If you fall out of love with what you’re doing, don’t be afraid to move on. And failing once doesn’t mean you’ll fail every time. You will fail, however, if you don’t learn from your mistakes. Fight for what’s important to you, but be conscious of your approach when speaking up. If you speak out of anger, odds are, your message won’t be heard as clearly. And never let the envy you might feel for another turn into jealousy or hatred. Instead, use that energy as motivation to work harder."

"Dance from your heart. If you dance from your heart, you'll always love it."

"I think they're all equally hard. They all have their own techniques and when you don't train in that technique then it's difficult. Y'know, especially for somebody in a ballroom who's use to stepping heal-to-toe and they get into a jazz routine and they're up on relevé the whole time. So everything has its own technique and when you get use to one way, it's difficult to switch."

"I think the future of dance is where we came from, where the dancers are the stars and I see in the next ten years dancers being these huge stars and the movie musical coming back."

"Dance is not an internal thing. You have to be able to give to somebody else visually watching or they won't care. If they don't leave with some type of emotional feeling—whether it be you cry, or you laugh, or you jump in the air for joy—then it becomes movement and we haven't done our job."

"We see people who dance really well and can't perform all the time. It's in our community, our dance community. It's like that because we've been doing back-up dancing for so long. We're always in the background of the movies and we're always behind the artist so our job is not to outshine the artist. Well now, with all these dance television shows, we're getting a chance to be the artist. We're on the forefront. We're the Gene Kellys and the Fred Astaires of this generation and it's our job to make people feel something and to really perform."

"This time in dance, this era, is probably one of the most entertaining times. It's got this whole new style of hip-hop which encompasses 20 different styles within it. There's no boundaries to it so people are taking it to the next level. And I think as an audience, everyone is saying Whoa, that is energetic. That is gymnastics, that is dancing, and that's entertainment combined in one. And that's a beautiful thing."

"Somewhere in the world of dance we started thinking about steps way too much: technique, steps, technique, steps. You can do all the technique you want, the regular public doesn't know. All they know is how you perform and what you tell them and what you make them feel; and when you make somebody feel something, it is undeniable."

"There's a life to dance that has to happen and it was seen years ago with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and the life and the feeling they had in a performance. And when you watch them and you see them and you start to sway with them and you start to move with them and you miss that sometimes and that's what needs to happen with dance again."

"Why would you want to be back-up dancer when you could be the actual star? Let's show the world that we're stars. Let's perform like stars."

"When you can tell the story of the song through your movement, it's brilliant. It comes across as so honest and not fake."

"This is one of the great things about this show is that we've really explored a totally new thing which is lyrical hip-hop and [Tabitha and Napoleon] nail it... It shows you that hip-hop [has] completely become a really legitimate beautiful genre in and of its own and you can tell such beautiful and heart breaking stories."

"What better work can you ask for than to be with her?"

"I am crazier about him than ever... We have been working together for so long. We know how one another operate and have such a good rhythm. If we are apart, I miss him because I need his feedback. I welcome his input even if it is different than mine because it always gives us a better product."

"I guess it's the first season... where I've been effected emotionally by hip-hop routines."

"Usually their choreography's a bit cotton candy..."

"We work together so much; it's weird doing even an interview separately, … [a]nd when we teach we vibe off each other. I'll start a joke, and Tabitha will finish it. I'll start choreographing, and she'll continue. We don't plan it like that; it just happens."

"I love the So You Think You Can Dance show. I love it. I think it’s some of the best hours on TV. I think those dancers are extraordinary and, more so, I think those choreographers are uniformly amazing[...] And so I got two of who I think are the best choreographers on SYTYCD — Tabitha and Napoleon — to be involved in some movement elements. Because I think when dance is mediocre, it’s painful. But when dance is really impressive, it destroys."

"I don't know how they do it but [Tabitha and Napoleon] love each other so much. They're this husband and wife duo that work together all the time and yet I've never seen them have an argument. I've never seen them kind'of roll their eyes at each other. I've never seen anything like that. They are the perfect example of a fabulous marriage."

"Honestly, I thought of him as a good-looking jock kind of guy, and I didn’t think he was very artistic or very smart."

"Somehow Napoleon and Tabitha have this ability... to put emotion into hip-hop routines and it really is a real talent."

"One of the biggest complaints about season 4 is the time the judges spent heaping endless praise upon the choreographers rather than discussing the dancers, but in the case of hip-hop choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo [sic] (i.e., [NappyTabs], now and forever), that praise was well-deserved. The couple brought a lyrical storytelling sensibility to their routines that transformed hip-hop from hard-hitting abstract steps to something far more emotionally engaging."

"Maybe it's because Laurieann Gibson is my choreographer and I'm really close with her but it's the interpretation of hip-hop that I thought was a little bit contrived."

"Actually, dance forms an intrinsic part of worship in the temples. . . . India alone has a concept of a God who dances. Siva is Nataraja, Lord of dancers, who dances in the Hall of Consciousness and weaves into it the rhythm of the Universe. Within His Cosmic Dance are included the Divine prerogatives of Creation, Preservation, Regeneration, Veiling and Benediction . . . Dance in India has been so closely linked with religion, that today it is impossible to think of it divorced from this essential background."

"It is the spirit of Purusha and Prakriti, an expression of evolution of movement, a truly creative force that is handed down the ages. This embodiment of sound and rhythm creating spiritual poetry is called dance or Natya. . . . The first glimpse of the dance comes to us from Siva Himself, a Yogi of Yogis. He shows us the Cosmic Dance and portrays to us he unity of Being. . . . The Cosmic Rhythm of His dance draws around Him ensouled matter, which manifests itself into the variety of this infinite and beautiful universe."

"I was brought up on Music, and being near Tiruvaiyaru for sometime during childhood , I got several opportunities to listen to great Music."

"To be truly Indian one had to be truly international, exhorting them to honour the best in all civilizations and to live it in their daily lives."

"That she learned ballet not with the idea of becoming a full-fledged dancer. It was just to train my body and more for the sheer joy of learning something beautiful."

"To recreate the temple atmosphere on the urban stage, and thus to facilitate a new kind of seeing that would enable the spiritual revival of the dance."

"Dance was really the art of the temple and that her temple theater was built with that purpose in mind. It has many features of the temple , and we have adopted as much as possible all the ideals enshrined in Natyashastra."

"We dance with our bodies, but we finally forget them and transform them."

"Women have everything to do with bringing culture into everyday life, with the expression of it, with the helping and influencing of a nation, not only because they are mothers but also because they themselves are an example as individuals. The modern world needs a new force for the revitalizing of its ideals. India’s art has always been unconscious, unconscious of its own beauty, unconscious of others’ admiration, unconscious of the physical though expressed in Form. India is now beginning to be conscious and we do not know how to express ourselves consciously. A great dancer’s art must depend first on the life he or she expresses, secondly upon the beauty of technique and lastly only, upon its arrangement, costume, and presentation....Though form, technique and skill are essential, great Art must have the impetus of genius, and inspiration. Then there is permanency."

"Animals cannot speak, but can you and I not speak for them and represent them? Let us all feel their silent cry of agony and let us all help that cry to be heard in the world."

"The demand for vegetarian food will increase our production of the right kind of plant foods. We shall cease to breed pigs and other animals for food, thereby ceasing to be responsible for the horror of slaughter houses where millions of creatures cry in vain because of man's selfishness. If such concentration camps for slaughtering continue, can peace ever come to earth? Can we escape the responsibility for misery when we are practicing killing every day of our lives by consciously or unconsciously supporting this trade of slaughter? Peace cannot come where Peace is not given."

"Many people have said many things. I can only say I did not consciously go after dance. It found me.""

"All the songs we dance to are of Gods and Goddesses. You may ask, why so many Gods and Goddesses? The only reply I can give is, Why not so many Gods and Goddess ?"

"Some people say, 'I believe in universal religion', but when I ask them whether they know anything about Hinduism, they answer in negative. They know nothing about Christianity, nor about Buddhism or about any other religion either. In other words, universality is, knowing nothing of anything. . . . Real internationalism is truly the emergence of the best in each. . . . But, in India, when I say India, I mean the India of the sages and saints who gave the country its keynote, there arose the ideal of one life, and of the divinity that lives in all creatures; not merely in humanity."

"Why does the story of Kumarasambhava please me? It is because of the symbolism. Finally what Parvati wins is not passion but the devotion and sublimation of herself. Parvati wins Siva and she becomes united with Him, because she has discovered the greater, indeed the only way of discovering God. This is very beautiful symbology. Siva burnt to ashes all that is physical. So must a dancer or musician burn to ashes all thought which is dross and bring out the gold which is within."

"Why was India a world power? Because Sri Krishna had lived in this country, Sri Rama had lived here and so had Lord Buddha. It was their Teaching that made India a great world power."

"An iconoclastic dancer, visionary institution builder, educationalist, elite woman privileged to travel the world when she was barely 25 years of age and empowered to work for global causes in Europe, Australia, England and America. Also perceived as uncompromising traditionalist, quintessential South Indian Brahmin girl, champion of animal rights, woman parliamentarian, craft revivalist, social reformer, cultural educator, and national icon."

"Rukmini of glorious past will be guru Agastya’s messenger to the women and young ones in India taking up for a large part of the work there that I have been carrying on for years. Young in body, yet she is old in wisdom and power. Child of the indomitable will is her welcome in the higher world."

"She used to visit me and dine with me, I had a very good cook then, and we both loved good food. She had great knowledge of music," reminisces."

"A full flowering of the arts is only possible when Literature and Art, Philosophy and Science interact with one another. Kalakshetra is among the very few institutions where all such disciplines interact."

"Narayana Menon quoted in "Rukmini Devi Arundale, 1904-1986: A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts", page=17"

"However, Hindu savants worked tirelessly to remove the Christian slurs cast on this art form. Chief among them was Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904–86), who protected and revived this dance by founding the Kalakshetra Academy of Dance and Music in 1936. She made it an acceptable norm for girls (and even boys) from middle-class households to learn Bharata Natyam. Though operated like a modern institution, it functioned as a traditional gurukula , focusing on prayers to the deity Ganapati, vegetarianism, and a guru-shishya relationship. Throughout Tamil Nadu, the guru-shishya form of decentralized, one-on- one learning spread in various ways as part of this revival. Thus far from being dead as intended by missionaries, colonialists and their Indian cronies, Bharata Natyam again became well established as a spiritual art-form in South India, and started to achieve acclaim throughout India and abroad. Kalakshetra grew into a university with a large campus in Chennai... Rukmini Arundale, a guru who rescued the dance form from the era of colonial evangelism, speaks of dance as 'Sadhana which requires total devotion'... She speaks of the Ramayana and Mahabharata as the 'essential expressions of Indian dance'."

"I always cribbed about having such a long name and my grandmother would say that nobody else will be called ‘Vyjayanthimala'."

"I think I was born to dance. That’s what my grandmother told me. So it was always in my system."

"But first I was made to learn music, because music and dance go together. You can sing, but you can’t dance without music..."

"I was surrounded by dance, music and religious chants, so it was that kind of a mood. Our family was very culturally-minded, especially my grandmother. She was also quite the disciplinarian. She made sure I practiced daily for hours."

"We came from a conservative family, many of whom had never even gone to school. But I was sent to a convent and everyone was very proud that I was educated. So once while I was performing in Madras, a director from AVM studios spotted me. They were looking for a fresh face and they immediately wanted to cast me, and my grandmother grudgingly accepted."

"I was cast as a college girl and that wasn’t really hard to play as I was very young then. I was treated as a child on the sets. When the movies finally hit the theatres, all the newspapers carried reviews that said, ‘What natural acting.'"

"She says she was the only south Indian actress who could speak Hindi without a South Indian accent, at the time."

"There were no acting schools or workshops then. What came naturally to you, is all you had. But Bharata Natyam taught me everything."

"If Bharatanatyam helped my movies, I cannot say the same about films helping my Bharatanatyam."

"There were so many different characters that I have played. Radha in Sangam was a very sophisticated woman and the setting was very refined, while in Dhanno in Gunga Jumna was rustic, a village belle. Even the language was different."

"As it is, being a South Indian I used to say my own lines and everybody marveled at it, and then to learn Bhojpuri... Dilipsaab was very helpful."

"Sangam had many firsts. The first technicolour film, the first film to have two intervals — in a way I was a part of history."

"Raj Kapoor was a true showman. He knew exactly what he wanted from me and [[w:Rajendra Kumar|Rajendra Kumar in Sangam, whereas Devsaab (Anand) had his own style his own mannerisms. I learnt so much from Dilipsaab especially mannerisms, like the way of delivering my Bhojpuri lines."

"My first colour sequence was in what was then called ‘Geva Colour’ for the dream sequence in Nagin."

"My dances were not like today’s, which have progressed with an Indian and Western combination or fusion which has become repetitive. You cannot tell one dance from the other. Everyone wants to be Michael Jackson. But I like some of them like that ‘Radha kaise na jale’ from Lagaan. I like classical stuff."

"Today’s dancers are not dignified. There’s a lot of talent but they are getting ample help. In our time you had to get the steps right, the words right and the movement right. Otherwise you had to start all over again. Today even if they miss a step it can be adjusted at the editing."

"I don’t know if I am wrong, but singing slightly out of sur is also in vogue these days. And these pelvic movements and gestures are too much for me."

"And when I joined politics people told me it wasn’t the same as the Independence era, so you can imagine how it has become now. It’s such a sad thing. Instead of taking to the country to a higher level we are going downwards."

"In those days, dances were dances and songs were songs. Film dances always had a semi-classical or folk element to them and songs were all about soul-stirring lyrics and haunting music. These days, they are more about technique and technology, often it's the camera that's dancing, the synthesiser that's singing. Not my cup of tea."

"I poured my heart and soul into the role of Chandramukhi. In my view, hers was the greater character (compared with Paro's). One scene that will forever be etched in my memory is the one in which Devdas takes leave of Chandramukhi, saying that he hopes he will meet her again, 'if not in this lifetime, then in the next'."

"That's because I simply carried on dancing, [she said]. It was my first love, and thanks to my taskmaster of a grandmother (Yadugiri Devi), I had never stopped my Bharata Natyam."

"aAs a creative artiste dedicated to a spiritual art form I was deeply pained by the communal violence in Gujarat."

"The need of the hour is to get people to talk to each other and to clear the air. I don't approve of fusion in art, but I definitely approve of it in the field of politics."

"Of course, there's also politics — "though far less so than before," admitted the three-time MP, who now is a member of the BJP."

"Vyjayanthimala Bali has been in the forefront of those responsible for the renaissance of Bharatanatyam for three or four decades."

"If any screen actress of recent times had ruled the film scene with the sway and swagger of a fabled queen it was surely Vyjayanthimala, the volatile, vibrant and the most gorgeous star of Hindi screen."

"Danseuse extraordinaire, Vyjayanthimala's greatest legacy to cinema is that today it is de rigeur for every girl who enters the Hindi film industry to be an accomplished dancer. Yet there was more to light-footed Vyjayanthi than magical moves."

"If a dancer dances - which is not the same as having theories about dancing or wishing to dance or trying to dance or remembering in his body someone else's dance - but if the dancer dances, everything is there.. ..our ecstasy in dance comes from the possible gift of freedom, the exhilarating moment that this exposing of the bare energy can give us. What is meant is not license, but freedom...(1952)"

"John Cage and I became interested in the use of chance in the 50's. I think one of the very primary things that happened then was the publication of the "I Ching," the Chinese book of changes, from which you can cast your fortune: the hexagrams."

"Cage took it to work in his way of making compositions then; and he used the idea of 64—the number of the hexagrams —to say that you had 64, for example, sounds; then you could cast, by chance, to find which sound first appeared, cast again, to say which sound came second, cast again, so that it's done by, in that sense, chance operations. Instead of finding out what you think should follow—say a particular sound—what did the I Ching suggest? Well, I took this also for dance."

"I was working on a title called, “Untitled Solo,” and I had made—using the chance operations—a series of movements written on scraps of paper for the legs and the arms, the head, all different. And it was done not to the music but with the music of Christian Wolff."

"Merce [Cunningham] is my favorit artist in any field. Sometimes I’m pleased by the complexity of a work I paint. By the fourth day I realize it’s simple. Nothing Merce does [choreography for dance] is simple. Everything has a fascinating richness and multiplicity of direction. [Jasper Johns did a lot of décors for Merce Cunningham, as Robert Rauschenberg did and Frank Stella..."

"I met him [Merce Cunningham] around 1953 after a performance I saw. He was teaching and making dances for his company and was already working with John Cage. What interested me initially wasn’t just the movement but also the music he worked with, which was unfamiliar to me.. ..Later [[Robert Rauschenberg|Bob Rauschenberg] had been doing sets and costumes for the Cunningham Company.. .I can’t say exactly how, but for a period of time, Cage, Cunningham, Rauschenberg, and I saw each other frequently and exchanged ideas. John [Cage] was very interested in presenting his ideas to other people, so it was impossible to be around and not to learn.."

"I didn’t know what to expect when I made my first convention appearance (in Las Vegas in 2005). I was blown away by the loyalty and knowledge of the fans. They attend these events annually and know more about our characters than we do. Some of them were even dressed in costumes, even as Orion slaves painted in green. Star Trek fans are the most loyal fans."

"It’s pretty amazing to be a part of the Star Trek family. It’s definitely a highlight of my career. I never imagined it’d lead to so many great opportunities to appear in other films, travel the world to make appearances, be featured in a comic strip, trading cards and even action figures. The fans are the most loyal, more than any franchise or brand. It’s pretty amazing how Star Trek continues to be relevant with so many TV series and films."

"It doesn't work, when you're thinking. It doesn't work… It doesn't work, do you understand that? Because we see, the viewer sees: you're thinking. And so we're worried, we're preoccupied, right. Is she OK?"

"So, you have to be a leader. So you may think: what we're looking at? What do you think we're looking at? We are looking for the best qualities in humanity: we're looking for courage, fearlessness… That's what we are looking for: we are looking for qualities in humanity! Kindness, compassion… Do you understand me? And so when you think: "I'm a dancer!" No, you want to be a poet, so that you're taking people into ideas, not steps. Does that make sense?"

"And guess what: you don't need much technique to do that… You don't! You just have to live the idea. But some of you're afraid, you get it? And so you think and you pose. And honey there is nothing more boring. That's a whole other world, that's the world of phoniness, glamour magazines that devised us, right? And so in dance we want to see the truth, let's ride of that."

"And so what you admire in human beings… Are they things you admire in human beings? Yes or no? And they're things that you don't like, right? And we also have those things inside of us, right? And so we wanna see, we wanna see what you're saying, what you're living, what you're experiencing, not pictures… What that's gonna do for me?"

"Because you're supposed to serve the art, right? So if I was your mother and your father, I would say: "This is my daughter, she is so cute…", right? But you're a human being in a brutal world who's looking to get… Ah beauty, I feel better. I want to be as beautiful, I want to be as honest, I want to be as fearless, I want to be as kind, do you understand me? That's what we're looking for… Because of the way that you dance, the way that you handle, because it's so honest."

"You don't see much honesty… You don't! You don't see much honesty, do you? What's another very rare word: humility. You don't see it much. It's beautiful. You can have that in your dancing. It's like: "I'm not dancing, something's dancing me." So it's not: "Sir, I'm doing this!" No, I'm receiving something. It's beautiful. Sincerity. Do you get me? And so those are the things you have to live in. You don't need much technique to do that. But that's the important stuff. Does that make sense?"

"So when you have to ask yourself: "Why am I holding back, why am I doing pictures?" And it's usually: that's because you're afraid. Bottom line. And for great art you have to be brave. So that the whole world is going to laugh at you but you don't care, do you get me? And when they say: "Ah that's stupid!" You don't care. You follow that song. I'm sorry, it's true."

"Women, you don't want to try to be pretty, it's a lie. You want to be beautiful, to tell the truth. Pretty is a manipulation. You want to be beautiful. To tell the truth. Truth is beauty."

"Technique without art is shallow and doomed. Art without technique is insulting."

"I was an "other," as people call now. But you know, everybody's other than everybody else...I used what was called the "sissy test" — you know, look at your fingernails; if you do it a certain way, you're a butch or a femme. But it turned into a little bit of a look back when I made up a dance based on the quotidian humiliations of junior high school — that age, that degree of development and that confusion and annoyance that happens."

"I guess once I finish a dance and release it to the public and we're performing it, I'm kind of done... Well, I love watching it, and I love watching other people's work too if it's really good and interesting. But you know, the most exciting part is also very often the most frustrating part: trying to finish something or get it just right or get across something that I'm not sure what it is until it happens.”"

"The culture has changed, and times have changed, you know, the whole thing about being queer has changed entirely. So then I was the bad boy, a self-proclaimed homosexual choreographer. In the early ‘80s I said I was gay all the time because it was important politically."

"I like working with grown-up dancers much better, because there’s somebody to talk to at the airport when you’re delayed. In the middle of class, they hate me for it, but I always say, ‘What are you reading right now?’ or ‘Did you see this movie?’ or ‘Who wrote that piece of music?’ I do little quizzes to keep people involved and not just to become robotic dancing machines, because I hate to watch that."

"I don’t, believe it or not. I don’t miss the roar of the crowd. I still get that when I take a bow, if I milk it right. I’m not regretful, but I’m envious sometimes."

"I believe firmly in that theory that the stuff you learn when you’re very, very young, it sort of stays. The very first dance I made up that was any good, I was about 15, and I’ve been wringing changes out of that ever since. That’s interesting to me. That’s not death. It’s style or something."

"If that means that it's not for everybody, then yes. "Elitist" doesn't need to mean wealthy and conservative; it can also mean specialised and rarefied, and that's no bad thing."

"I’m surprised by the success of anything I do, but it’s gratifying when the public approves."

"I actually go, 'Wow! How lucky can a girl get?"

"Right now, there are more people on Facebook than there were on the planet 200 years ago. Humanity’s greatest desire is to belong and connect, and now, we see each other. We hear each other. We share what we love. And this connection is changing the way the world works."

"After a treacherous journey we finally arrived in Sudan, on top of the Nuba Mountains, and with it came a shocking 130° degree [fahrenheit, 54° celsius] heat — and right from the start, we could tell, this was not the adventure we had expected. There wasn't much to do."

"I said what I understood and I said what I was able to say."

"'From seven years old, from day one of the abuse, Michael told me that we loved each other and this was love, this was an expression of our love.'"

"'And then he would follow it up with, "but if you ever tell anyone what we are doing both of our lives and careers would be over"'."

"'I have never forgotten one moment of what Michael did to me, but I was psychologically and emotionally completely unable and unwilling to understand that it was sexual abuse.'"

"'And for the first time in my life, I began to realize that my completely numb and unexplored feelings about what Michael did to me might be a problem and maybe I need to speak to somebody about it.'"

"'The idea that I would make all of this up and put myself, my wife, my son, my entire family through this extremely stressful and painful experience all for money is incomprehensible.'"

"'I've lived in silence and denial for 22 years and I can't spend another moment in that.'"

"'I'm never going to go away with this for the sake of money. I'm never going to be silenced for money. That's not going to happen.'"

"For me, purity of movement wasn't enough. I needed expression, more intensity, more mind."

"Technique is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration."

"The main thing is dancing, and before it withers away from my body, I will keep dancing till the last moment, the last drop."

"You live because you dance, you dance as long as you live."

"I would be ready to take over tomorrow. But first of all, all fat and lazy members of the troupe would have to be thrown out."

"Musicals gave the U.S. an ethnic culture that undoubtedly influenced ballet."

"I think dancers are paid not for what they do, but for the fear they feel. What you do is probably not that difficult: you just get on stage. It is, however, fear that gives you the push."

"It is always thought that he gave more than what he received, but to give something, you must have something inside."

"Everyone would like to be the greatest, but God cannot bestow that honor on everyone."

"Rudolf was an unusual man of all respects, instictive, intelligent, constant curiosity, extraordinary discipline, that was his goal in life and of course love of performing. He loved strong women, loyal men and he loved his life. I learned a lot from him although we are very different performers. I will miss him for the rest of my life. That's for sure."

"Nureyev had an iron will and was totally dedicated to his art. He became the highest paid ballet dancer in the world, he made ballet popular, he became the rock-star of ballet, he changed male dancing in the classics making the part of the male dancer the equal of the ballerina; he created a new approach to ballet erasing the differences between classical ballet and modern dancing."

"His death hurt us deep inside. I had known him for more than thirty years. We were friends. And yet, I am not sure we showed him enough recognition or gratitude. Did we tell him how unique he was? Did we thank him enough for the emotion he gave us? Did we prove our admiration and love as we should have? I don’t know. What I do know now is that we are alone, that the irreparable has happened and that a brilliant dancer has gone forever."

"Rudolf is there in my mind. I can still hear his voice, his wheeze, every time I correct a dancer. Just as he, when he corrected us, could probably hear the words of his own teacher in his head."

"Rwanda is in me, it’s very deep. My creativity is linked to the past, my childhood there. There is much to be said and told, not just through dance and music, but that is one way to address it. It’s a question of creating, mending, performing, witnessing, sharing."

"It’s true that men who invade territories also want to annihilate the physical body, the social body. But I decided to zoom into the stories of the Rwandan women and let that spread out and speak of the others."

"I would ask if I could take a photo after talking to them, and most would change into a beautiful dress. They wanted me to carry beauty and hope with me."

"I recorded their voices and really tried to capture how they held themselves, how they walked, how they wiped away their tears. It all became physical, choreographic, material. We hear some of their testimonies in the piece, and I had to find a way for the body to navigate through these spoken words"

"The choreography was about digging into the physical memories of these women’s tension, their rage, their sorrow. I tried to honestly remember my feelings and the emotional journey I went through in their presence. I am not trying to reproduce rape; I want to cut through the trauma so that people can receive and understand these experiences. The body speaks when testimony has been suspended."

"I’ve always felt like my life’s work has been to teach–then at a point, a studio became a dream of mine because the spiritual relationship I have with dancing is one that I feel I need to share."

"The studio is a home of expression, a home of love–and a home of freedom."

"We need to find creative ways to end period poverty. I know it can get awkward sometimes to speak about these things, but we need to be there for each other. It is important to share the information and knowledge that you gain. We need to take up more options in trying to help each other end period poverty."

"We believe that we are all global citizens responsible for making the world a better place, and the time to do so is right here, right now. We recognise the challenges, especially in a region with high poverty, and we strive to play our part to effect positive change."

"When I met the twins, I fell in love straight away. Their mother hadn’t had an opportunity to name them and when their father asked me to name them I called them Precious and Sapphire Gihozo. I promised to look after them until they were 18 at least and they’ve actually started calling me mommy."

"Contributing to their upbringing has impacted me massively. I was looking after kids before but taking them from being babies has made me grow up even more and my heart has become bigger. They bring me a lot of joy."

"We want the youth in Africa to feel they don't need to leave their countries to realize their artistic dreams and entrepreneurial aspirations."

"Childish Gambino’s team reached out to me after seeing some of my dance videos online. They saw one particular move that they liked, Gwara Gwara from South Africa, which we did in the video and also on SNL. I came up with different steps, taught the school kids and the choir, and helped Donald [Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino] with his solos."

"For a while now, Gwara Gwara has been the dance that everyone wants to do and learn. It looks simple, but it’s actually difficult to do. I lived in South Africa for two months while filming a movie, so I became quite familiar with it. I also included the Shaku Shaku dance from Nigeria, the Alkayida from Ghana, the Azonto from Ghana, and other moves that don’t have names, as well."

"We did a lot of rehearsals to pull off the hologram, and we made sure to carry it out in the safest way possible. That was the climax of the performance, a joyful moment, before we calmed it down with the little princess at the end."

"Being a part of the number one trending video means a lot. I don’t just do this for fun. I really do it because I want to give back. I travel and teach African dance from all over the continent. I take the money I generate from teaching back to Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria to redevelop schools and help get homeless kids off the street. For me, it’s not just about dancing. It’s the actual outcome that matters most."

"I work with children in a few ways. I have a home for homeless children in Rwanda, and there’s a few children I look after and send to school. I’m used to playing a mothering role, so when it comes to working with children, I still have that motherly feeling. I know how to speak to them and how to encourage them. Instead of just teaching them a move, I’ll take them back to where it comes from and what it means, you know? I make it entertaining and interesting. All the kids in the video left with so much insight into the culture; they can’t stop dancing in this new style that they’d never tried before."

"They came to me because they liked my style, but there was also a move that they saw that’s trending. It’s called the Gwara Gwara [from South Africa]. They wanted me to include that move."

"As an artist, it’s important not to ignore what’s going on around the world. Fairytales are good, but if you look around, what do you see? It’s hard. I mean, I understand when people say [artists should] try not to have violence in their videos, but violence exists. I think it’s just important how you address it. I don’t necessarily agree that artists should shy away from the fact there’s violence."

"One thing I can say is that the most important thing was safety first and making sure the interest of the children and their parents were met. We had several safety briefs, and I made sure I rebriefed them to understand everything that’s going on. That was a very important aspect—them understanding what’s going on. Everyone watches TV, so I’m sure this is not the first time these kids had seen anything violent. Violence is happening in their reality every day. At least they know, with this video, nobody died."

"I think whether you’re a dance choreographer, a writer, a singer, or anyone who has that stage, it’s definitely good to engage things in a political way, but also in a creative way. For me, I was just trying to show that the kids are the light in all the darkness around them. So that was done in a very subtle way of having these happy, amazing children dancing and enjoying their lives and not paying attention to everything going on around them. I think subtlety is always the best way, instead of us standing there with a big sign in the background that says, "Hey, don’t worry!" You know what I mean? Sometimes you can just dance and smile and still relay the message without having to do it in an obvious way."

"we want African youths not to have to feel that they need to leave their countries to find greener pastures elsewhere to make their artistic and entrepreneurial dreams come true."

"My life is an example of what can be achieved when a young Rwandan girl is given an opportunity to express herself and chase her passions."

"I am inviting you to come together and stand on the right side of history by investing more in young rural people, and the communities where they live."

"Imagine what would happen if governments and donors around the world spent as much on agriculture and rural people as they do on humanitarian aid,There would be food security. There would be social stability. There would be less damage to the environment. There would be hope for our future."

"Youth unemployment will be the defining challenge of this era alongside climate change, and I am committed to helping the UN as an IFAD Advocate for Rural Youth to do everything I can to provide a better future for young people everywhere, They need jobs and opportunities in agriculture to help feed a growing population while also building a safe and prosperous future right where they live. the only way we are going to solve complex challenges like ending extreme poverty, hunger and forced migration is by calling on governments to invest in a different way of going about development. Young people want to build a better world, but they can’t do it alone."

"My mom would always reassure me that I’m beautiful, so I decided, growing up, that I was going to stand firm in who I truly am."

"Success seems like it’s overnight but, obviously, it’s really years of work."

"I get upset when trees are felled. There are floods because there are no more trees."

"“It’s a partnership. When you have a partner, you have to breathe together, think together, practice together!"

"Alice Reyes’ other ‘wonderland’ Inquirer"

"[Tinikling] does become a contest between the dancer and the clapper."

"Dancing to a Bamboo Beat The New York Times"

"I envy my foreign counterparts—Bournonville of Copenhagen, Fokine and Petipa of Moscow, Balanchine of New York, Ashton of London—because even after their retirement, even after their death, their works are kept alive through continuous performance…But what steps are being taken to preserve choreographies created in the Philippines? Where are the dance-dramas I created and which won for me the title of National Artist? Nowhere to be seen."