"Dancing can reveal all the mystery that music conceals" 

Mikhail Baryshnikov (via thedancinglamb)

"I’d say you have to really know that you love it with every inch of your body and soul because it is such a difficult business to be in because of all the rejection and all the hardships and sacrifices you have to make in order to reach where you want to be. So I’d say first of all make sure you completely and utterly love it, and second to not let anybody get you down. You really have to believe in yourself and be your number one fan, because in this business every other person is trying to get you down. You really have to stay true to yourself, as cheesy as that sounds. And you cannot take no for an answer, and you have to dream big. I think that’s the greatest thing my family ever taught me: if you’re going to dream, you have to dream SO big." 

Ksenia Solo’s advice to aspiring dancers

(Source: theballetblog)

"The difference in your body between looking ridiculous and looking ethereal is only a matter of one inch" 

Miguel Campaneria

(Source: theballetblog)

"Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion." 

Martha Graham

(Source: theballetblog)

"The things you can’t say in words are best said in dance." 

Alma Har’el

(Source: theballetblog)

"When you step on stage and hear the applause, it pays you back. You give up your life for the momentary highs." 

Melissa Hamilton (via justjetes)

"Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired." 

Martha Graham

(Source: theballetblog)

"The domain of the ballet dancer is not earth but air." 

Lincoln Kirstein

(Source: theballetblog)

"The moments of the performance that are most emotionally moving are those in which the dancer is feeling, not thinking." 

Peggy van Praagh

(Source: theballetblog)

"One of the goals of ballet is to make it look as easy as possible, so people think it’s easier than it really is." 

Jan Dijkwel

(Source: theballetblog)

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

George Balanchine

(Source: theballetblog)

"It has taken me years of struggle, hard work and research to learn to make one simple gesture, and I know enough about the art of writing to realize that it would take as many years of concentrated effort to write one simple, beautiful sentence." 

Isadora Duncan

(Source: theballetblog)

thecitylightsarebright:

Untitled on @weheartit.com - http://whrt.it/TGkHhN

"The real message of the Dance opens up the vistas of life to all who have the urge to express beauty with no other instrument than their own bodies, with no apparatus and no dependence on anything other than space." 

Ruth St. Denis

(Source: theballetblog)

"The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark." 

Agnes de Mille

(Source: theballetblog)