Suzanne Farrell Quotes
-
So dancing was not something I had a great desire to do.
→ -
I had two sisters, and we would love to get dressed up and pretend that we were chic, sophisticated ladies. And I think that was a great sort of preparation, in a way.
→ -
After I stopped dancing, I was unable to listen to beautiful music.
→ -
Of course, in the art class, I was the model.
→ -
Eating a healthy diet is not just about eating a few special foods. There's a bigger picture. You need to practice moderation, eat a variety of foods, and get enough physical activity.
→ -
I was very happy that I was as normal as possible before I went into serious dance.
→ -
The body can do amazing things in a situation when it is really called for.
→ -
When you are on stage, you don't see faces. The lights are in your eyes and you see just this black void out in front of you. And yet you know there is life out there, and you have to get your message across.
→ -
I used to love to play dress-up, where you get your mother's or your grandmother's dresses and high heels.
→ -
You don't learn from a situation where you do something well. You enjoy it and you give yourself credit, but you don't really learn from that. You learn from trial and error, trial and error, all the time.
→ -
As soon as I hear music, something in me starts to vibrate.
→ -
Although we do come from a silent profession, it is important for us to verbalize what we want to say. (As I tell my students): you could love someone all your life, but if you never say it how are they going to know? There comes a point when you have to say what you mean, which makes you scream louder when you dance.
→ -
Fifth positions, heads, musicality, energy. Not technical things so much-getting your leg higher or doing more turns but things that would set you apart from other dancers. The only way you can be different is to be yourself if you don't find your spirit and reveal it, you just look like every other dancer.
→ -
But what was my motivation was music, and the fact that I love to move around. I'm always moving around.
→ -
I think especially in a world where you have so little say about what goes on in your life, or in the politics of the world around you, it is wonderful to go into that studio, and tell yourself what to do.
→ -
I had a wonderful childhood, coming from Cincinnati, and I think that it was great going into the life that I was going to have, where you have to start young as a dancer.
→ -
I was very much of a tomboy.
→ -
When you get on stage, you can be anything. You are removed from reality in a way, the real world.
→ -
In fact, ballet companies did not exist in the Midwest when I was a child.
→ -
When you are on stage in front of an audience, you want to engage the entire crowd. If a thousand people are in the theater, you need to dance a thousand different ways, not one-thousandth of a way.
→ -
Even though I am a professional, and I know what the steps are, I don't quite know how I'm going to do them, because I haven't lived that moment yet. I always feel very insecure and I get very excited.
→ -
I loved tests because it was another form of competing, a healthy competition.
→ -
I could work out a lot of my emotions by going to class and dancing.
→ -
I liked tap, because I liked hearing the results of my movements.
→ -
The particular ballet was not so important as the fact that I was physically healthy, and capable of getting out there and dancing as often as possible.
→ -
I set as my goal to be the best dancer I could be. Not the most famous, or the highest paid dancer, just the best I could be. Out of this discipline came great freedom and calm.
→ -
I didn't care too much for ballet, because you had to be more disciplined, and you sort of looked like everyone else. It required a certain kind of conformity that I didn't feel like I wanted to do.
→ -
I didn't have any doubts about my choice of career, but I had constant doubts about my ability, yes.
→ -
On the other hand, I think it is wonderful for everyone to take ballet classes, at any age. It gives you a discipline, it gives you a place to go. It gives you some control in your life.
→ -
Do not brood. It makes the moment you are living in unavailable for learning and life.
→
Related Authors
-
Jacques d'Amboise Choreographer -
Twyla Tharp Dancer -
Toni Bentley Author -
Edward Villella Ballet choreographer -
Anna Pavlova Ballerina -
Jerome Robbins Theater Producer -
Peter Martins Choreographer -
George Balanchine Choreographer -
Lincoln Kirstein Writer -
Wendy Whelan Ballet Dancer -
Gelsey Kirkland Ballerina -
Maria Tallchief Ballerina -
Martha Graham Choreographer -
Igor Stravinsky Composer -
Allegra Kent Ballet Dancer -
Rudolf Nureyev Ballet Dancer -
Margot Fonteyn Ballerina -
Julie Harris Actress -
Mikhail Baryshnikov Choreographer -
Natalia Makarova Ballerina