In some situations I was difficult, in odd moments impossible, in rare moments loathsome, but at my best unapproachably great.
Ballet is the fairies' baseball.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote humorously likens ballet to a sport, suggesting it has its own grace and excitement akin to baseball.
Oscar Levant's quote, 'Ballet is the fairies' baseball,' creatively compares ballet, a dance form often associated with grace, elegance, and fantasy, to baseball, a dynamic sport praised for its energy and competition. This innovative metaphor emphasizes the joy and spirited nature of ballet, suggesting that, like baseball, it requires skill, dedication, and brings pleasure, but in a whimsical, ethereal way that is unique to the world of fairy tales.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
You might use this quote at a ballet recital to highlight the joy and playful nature of the performance.
More from Oscar Levant
All quotes βWhen I appeared before the draft board examiner during World War II, he asked me if I thought I could kill. "I don't know about strangers," I replied, "but friends, certainly."
I have no trouble with y enemies. But my god damn friends... they are the ones that keep me walking the floors at night.
I'm a study of a man in chaos in search of frenzy.
I envy people who drink. At least they have something to blame everything on.
Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic, and so am I.
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I travel in gardens and bedrooms, basements and attics, around corners, through doorways and windows, along sidewalks, over carpets, down drainpipes, in the sky, with friends, lovers, children and heros; perceived, remembered, imagined, distorted and clarified.
I am, and forever will be, devastated by the gift of Audrey Hepburn before my camera. I cannot lift her to greater heights. She is already there. I can only record. I cannot interpret her. There is no going further than who she is. She has achieved in herself her ultimate portrait.
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