The mirror is not you. The mirror is you looking at yourself.

First comes the sweat. Then comes the beauty if you're very lucky and have said your prayers.

I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.

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.

Most ballet teachers in the United States are terrible. If they were in medicine, everyone would be poisoned.

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.