I write. I have read a great deal. I enjoy books. I like the wit of languages. Even French I like. I like to be able to think in different modes. I like to be able to use the language a great deal and carry on rehearsals in French.
I’m much stronger than most women. When I work with men, or when I’m partnered by men, we can actually go into kinds of movement that haven’t been available before, simply because I’ve strengthened myself as a woman, not because I’ve weakened him.
I’ve always had to keep the walls in place, and the only way to do that is to keep yourself constantly occupied. From the time I was 8 years old, until I went to college, I worked. There was no social life.
In the future, I will make certain that I commit to projects so there’s enough breathing space for me to have an emotional life.
Just when you arrive at the apex of your skills, it’s time to retire. But as it turned out, I decided that since it was the thing that I felt I did best, I owed it to all that be to pursue it.
Men and women are very different athletes, and frankly, I didn’t want to deal with the male potential.
I learned very early that an audience would relax and look at things differently if they felt they could laugh with you from time to time. There’s an energy that comes through the release of tension that is laughter.
Nobody likes to see that which they’ve invested in disappear from the face of the earth before they’ve even died. This is not cool. We can now see what the landmarks are.
The notion of the hero as outsider, as alien, is forget it, over, done with. It’s not about being against society anymore. It’s about standing there, holding something up. It’s not pulling away.
The way I enjoyed spending time most was dancing. That’s from the time I was a very small child, When I was 4 or 5 years old, I remember already having a regime. It was the way I always identified myself.
There really is nothing I ever had access to that I didn’t appreciate.
When I’m in the studio, when I’m warm, when I’m what people call improvising, I feel a very special connection. I feel the most right. I don’t want to become too mystic about this, but things feel as though they’re in the best order at that particular moment.
I was interested in becoming a show dancer, for which I tried, but I’m not tall enough.
I often say that in making dances I can make a world where I think things are done morally, done democratically, done honestly.
To embrace luck, you have to enhance your tolerance for ambiguity.
Skill is how you close the gap between what you can see in your mind’s eye and what you can produce; the more skill you have, the more sophisticated and accomplished your ideas can be. With absolute skill comes absolute confidence.
You’re only kidding yourself if you put creativity before craft.
I have not wanted to intimidate audiences. I have not wanted my dancing to be an elitist form. That doesn’t mean I haven’t wanted it to be excellent.
The more you fail in private, the less you will fail in public.
Failing, and learning from it, is necessary. Unil you’ve done it, you’re missing an important piece of your creative arsenal.