“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself.”

“My mother had a son from previous marriage and her husband died in Second World War.”

“I like to go to anybody else's birthday, and if I'm invited I'm a good guest. But I never celebrate my birthdays. I really don't care.”

“Dances have a second and third life. You feel they are never ready. They always have a chance for another life.”

“I found that dance, music, and literature is how I made sense of the world... it pushed me to think of things bigger than life's daily routines... to think beyond what is immediate or convenient.”

“I was not extremely patriotic about Mother Russia. I played their game, pretending. You have to deal with, you know, party people, KGB. Horrifying.”

“Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun.”

“The problem is not making up the steps but deciding which ones to keep.”

“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself.”