The moment is everything. Don't think about tomorrow; don't think about yesterday: think about exactly what you're doing right now and live it and dance it and breath it and be it.
Aging gracefully means being flexible, being open, allowing change, enjoying change and loving yourself.
Certain people have certain ways of focusing on things, and some arrange their lens to a pinhole in order to focus only on their goal. Others have a giant lens, and they take in the whole panorama. I was that pinhole kind of person.
I feel the ticking clock. And at times, I've said if I don't dance, I'd rather die.
I knew I wanted to be a ballet dancer, but what kind, I wasn't sure. My two dream companies had been New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater.
I look back, and I have no regrets, truly. Everything led me to the place where I am now.
As I aged and I got stronger artistically, I really started to value my voice in performance - my 'voice' meaning my body, my technique, and my style. Then I started to really feel that flower as well. That's when I started to feel like, 'Wow - now I understand what my beauty is.'
I've always felt like a different kind of ballerina.
I've let my body soften. I've let it relax.
I think the leotard for me became, after I retired, a sort of a symbol of the confines of still fitting into the ballet world in mind and body.
As ballerinas, we don't use our voices. Our voice is the body and the movement quality.
Sometimes I miss being en pointe, but not a whole lot. Every once and a while, I would love to float for a minute on a shoe. But for the most part, I did it long enough that it's OK.
I really miss dancing all day long. But something I really love is not dancing all day long. I love that I can't rely on dancing all day long to stay creative.
I have a lot of energy, a lot of interest, a lot of desire.
I was dancing on Broadway for many years. Then everyone was either getting injured or retiring, and I was dancing with younger dancers.
You have to decide when it is time to move on.
I liked the structure of ballet.
When you are a kid, you find so much comfort in dancing. I was comforted.
Being a ballerina, you don't ever want to show yourself less than perfect, ever. That's what your goal is: 24/7 perfection.
I always looked at the process and the career of being a ballerina as sacred. It's a true gift to have this talent and perform these masterworks; it's sublime.
