You always want to please your choreographer, director. Dancers are just that way.
Some people are painters, and some are ballet dancers, and I’m a writer.
I want to create a platform where dancers can be creative away from their day jobs. I want them to be able to express their joy, their personalities and to have fun.
I do drag. Just because my drag is not the drag of Creme Fatale or Holy McGrail doesn’t mean it’s less drag. I perform live; I just sing with dancers. It’s drag on a different level.
I think as a dancer you are always wanting to look your best, like in an outfit, you want an outfit to look the best it can on you, meaning weight is a huge one for a lot of dancers… you are always wanting to look better, look thinner.
Obviously, the young dancers lack a certain air of maturity.
I look for dancers who have all the technique in the world. But they must be dancers who are open-minded, who are willing to forget that they know anything. They also have to be gorgeous; they must have a clear image of themselves and strong personalities.
For the ‘Heaven’ stage, the dancers and I don’t use wires so we are slowly slipping down the stage if you see us up close.
I was always the kid down the street who got the other kids to put on a show. But it was only when I was 19, and discovered ballet and contemporary dance, that I got interested in the fact that you could have a whole evening of dance – rather than just waiting for the dancers in a musical.
Choreography is mentally draining, but there’s a pleasure in getting into the studio with the dancers and the music.
When I dance, I love the romance and sexiness of it, and love having it be clear to both dancers that the man leads! But the man has to know what he’s doing!
I would love for dancers to be treated better and for dancers to have support, for dancers to have managers, agents. This is the only art form that does not have a proper support system.
When I graduated from high school, I made the decision to pursue my dance training in London, England. I was so scared at first, not knowing if this little girl from small town Canada could possibly make it with these highly trained London dancers.
The highest heels I do are six-inch heels – but mostly only dancers can wear them, since they are used to being on point in ballet shoes.
I very much like dance and dancers.
Listen – I like musicals. Even when they’re bad, there’s a couple of dancers I can watch.
For me rappers and dancers are poets and artists and often times the most interesting performances are given by them.
I really enjoyed watching a ballerina named Denise Dabrowski who used to dance at California Ballet. She was a beautiful ballerina and role model for a lot of young dancers.
One of our problems is our sense of discipline – dancers have an extraordinary sense of self-discipline.
Show dancing stood very well on its own a long time ago with dancers like Bill Robinson and Marilyn Miller.
Dancers use their bodies in extraordinary ways, so we are chronically pre-arthritic, because of how we use our muscles and our bones.
Modern dancers give a sinister portent about our times.
When I coach dancers, I always like to get on the dance floor with them or describe something by showing them.
My dancers expect me to deliver because my choreography represents their livelihood.
I think it’s always great to not be the smartest person in the room because I don’t want to ever feel like I can’t improve upon what I’m doing. I just want to surround myself with people that are better actors than me and better singers and dancers and see what happens.
I feel an obligation to use black dancers because there must be more opportunities for them, but not because I’m a black choreographer talking to black people.
I come from a family with many dancers, my aunts learnt dance, so did Kamal Haasan and, as a child I learnt it, too.
I’m the chairman of the board of the Actor’s Fund. It’s an incredible organization. It helps anybody that has made their living in the performing arts and entertainment: actors, singers, dancers, film producers, agents, managers, ticket takers, writers, anybody in times of need or crisis.
As a dancer, you really try to stay true to whatever the choreographer/artistic director is giving you. So, now the shoe is on the other foot and I have to trust everyone else – I have to trust the dancer. As I was trusted as a dancer, I trust my dancers.
There’s a line of dancers waiting to get into Sydney Dance Company.
The Kirov is a great ballet company because it has so many terrific dancers, but it doesn’t always know what to do with them.
I love the dancers in the Bolshoi, but all of my Moscow friends are outside the company. A friend introduced me to Vika Gazinskaya, a well-known Russian designer. I met her group. The rest is history.
I see myself helping the next generation of dancers who come along, helping them to keep the dance focused, so we don’t get into a position where they’re saying in 2050, or whatever, that around 2001 or 2002 or something the dance died.
When you find real jazz on the radio dial, it comes in all static-y. It’s just like tap dancers. You have to go uptown to find the real hoofers. We only come to midtown if we’re called upon.
When I went to the sets of ‘ABCD,’ I felt younger. Surrounded by so many young dancers, I, too, became a dancer again.
There are always younger and better dancers fighting to get your place. You get worn down by the fight to try to stay at the top.
The Royal Ballet is the best paid company, but the dancers get nothing. The stage crew get paid three times more than the dancers, and they have a job for life – dancers only have 10 years.
It was extraordinary ’cause I was 17 years old when I first danced with Edward Villella. And we were both young. But I had seen him dance, and he was already a star. So he was just so gentle and wonderful and kind, and we had a great rapport together. He was one of the most exciting dancers of our day.
Even in the early stages of my career I’ve had to dance with principal dancers. I could have easily freaked out and got nervous, but I think that helped when it came to trying to forget I was doing a scene with Judi Dench.
I realize that dancers have worked long and hard for standards. However, on occasion, I think that it’s good to examine one’s heart and ask why are we dancing.
I like to be around dancers who are totally committed to the art form, totally committed to the men and women around them.
I thought the musical aspect of ‘Freak Dance’ was a good contrast to how dancers always try to come off as really tough in those movies – they’re trying to literally come off as gangs like as if the Crips and the Bloods are also dancing in addition or instead of fighting with guns and knives and stuff.
Dancers carry themselves in completely different ways to how we do in our everyday lives. They are very free with their bodies which I’m not used too.
It’s time for there to be roles in the ballet where two men can fall in love, and a woman can lead a company of 20 dancers that include both men and women.
Bubbles was a very good dancer. Tremendous dancer. He was one of our leading dancers of the country at that time. And, of course, he didn’t have much of a voice.
Dancers know how to move their arms and their hands. But I don’t know the first thing about how to move my arms and hands gracefully.
I look at the dancers and I get the inspiration for the work from them.
I grew up in a crazy, gypsy-like household of actors, dancers and loony Broadway people. It was their way of life, and I didn’t know anything else.
Usually, when we’re performing ‘What About Your Friends’ or ‘Waterfalls’ comes on, they all know the dance. It’s like a sea of TLC dancers in the audience! It’s so beautiful to see. I just love it so much.
It’s normal; Arab women have always been very active at the forefront of culture – as film producers since the 1920s; as singers, dancers, choreographers, writers for much longer than that.
I have two sisters and neither one of them are dancers.
It’s not a secret – I’m literally one of the best dancers in the world! I mean, not everyone would necessarily agree with that.
I was always looking at footage of dancers from Nicholas Brothers to Ralph Brown to Sand Man to Miller Brothers and Lois, and I grew up looking at old footage.
Sometimes learning simple little steps kind of gives couples a pattern that they can follow, and they feel a bit more confident. I literally melt every time I help a couple with their first dance, and they’re not dancers.
I’m obviously always interested in the dancer who’s an athlete and vice versa. I expect dancers to be in condition like an athlete is and to challenge themselves in the same way, to the same physical degree.
I would have young dancers come to me and ask me questions and want to know what my experiences were like: ‘What’s it like being a black dancer?’ So I just felt like it was necessary for me to share my experiences with them.
When other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers I kind of wanted to be a vampire.
There’s no agents or managers to represent them. Dancers don’t have any voice. They have nothing. Nobody can afford a flat to live in. They have to share to be able to survive. In a place like the Royal Ballet, that shouldn’t happen.
