Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery.
No animal ever has an ugly body until it is domesticated. It is the same with the human body.
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.
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 unique must be fulfilled.
The center of the stage is where I am.
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.
The secret to dancing is that it is about everything except dancing.
The spine is the tree of life. Respect it.
In a dancer, there is a reverence for such forgotten things as the miracle of the small beautiful bones and their delicate strength.
Censorship is the height of vanity.
A dancer must listen to his body and pay homage to it. Behind the movement lies this terrible, driving passion, this necessity. I won’t settle for anything less.
Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.
Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It’s a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle.
You can be Eastern or Burmese or what have you, but the function of the body and the awareness of the body results in dance and you become a dancer, not just a human being.
Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.
The body is shaped, disciplined, honored, and in time, trusted.
The past is not dead; it is not even past. People live on inner time; the moment in which a decisive thought or feeling takes place can be at any time. Timeless feelings are common to all of us.
First we have to believe, and then we believe.
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.