The mirror is not you. The mirror is you looking at yourself.
George BalanchineRead
We must first realize that dancing is an absolutely independent art, not merely a secondary accompanying one. I believe that it is one of the great arts. . . . The important thing in ballet is the movement itself. A ballet may contain a story, but the visual spectacle . . . is the essential element. The choreographer and the dancer must remember that they reach the audience through the eye. It's the illusion created which convinces the audience, much as it is with the work of a magician.
More from George Balanchine
All quotes →First comes the sweat. Then comes the beauty if you're very lucky and have said your prayers.
George BalanchineRead
I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.
George BalanchineRead
God creates, I do not create. I assemble and I steal everywhere to do it - from what I see, from what the dancers can do, from what others do.
George BalanchineRead
Most ballet teachers in the United States are terrible. If they were in medicine, everyone would be poisoned.
George BalanchineRead
One is born to be a dancer. No teacher can work miracles, nor will years of training make a good dancer of an untalented pupil. One may be able to acquire a certain technical facility, but no one can ever 'acquire an exceptional talent.' I have never prided myself on having an unusually gifted pupil. A Pavlova is no one's pupil but God's.
George BalanchineRead