Maksim Chmerkovskiy Quotes

I dug up my dad's old Fred Astaire tapes, and now I find him super-inspiring. He's, like, one of the best dancers.

I'm really influenced by Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.

I wanted to be Gene Kelly. Well really, I just wanted to dance with Cyd Charisse.

I love movin'. I was observant growing up, watching Michael Jackson and John Travolta. I'd close my eyes, see the moves.

I love dancing; I adore salsa dancing and wish I could be in a Broadway chorus.

I think there's no question that Michael Jackson was the foremost entertainer of his generation; perhaps of all time, arguably, taking the skills of a Sammy Davis, Jr., bringing together the street dance of African American urban culture, joining them to the politics of dance, of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on that sphere alone.

Fred Astaire was a more formal, trained dancer who loved waltzing and only danced with the girls.

I can always remember the dances, even from shows I did 40 years ago.

Astaire never thought of what he was doing as balletic, but Kelly was always trying to dance with women on points. And his choreography is so showy and flashy. He always looks self-satisfied to me.

My mom was a huge fan of 'Dirty Dancing.' I couldn't quite get a break, and she was like, 'Patrick Swayze was a dancer!' And Fred Astaire. I started dancing, and it led me to acting. It helps with fighting or whatever choreography in general.

No one around me was obsessed with Fred Astaire except for me. It just snowballed, really. I started with tap lessons. When I didn't have tap shoes, I taped nickels on the bottom of my penny loafers.

My first vocation was dance.

When I was a teeny little girl, I was in dancing school, and I sang.

I started dancing when I saw Fred Astaire in 'Flying Down to Rio,' at approximately nine years old. Fred Astaire influenced me, more than anything, to be in 'show business.'

I started out as a dancer as a kid; I've been dancing since I was 4. So performing was always part of what I was.

I've been dancing my entire life. Jazz, hip hop, ballet. And then there's tap dancing. I love to tap.

I felt Michael Jackson was inspired a little bit more from the elegance of a Fred Astaire. Michael loved Sammy Davis, Jr. and James Brown and Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. But he wasn't any of those people. To be inspired is one thing, but he made it all his own.

I've always had an innate ability to dance, but I'm not as spiffy as those cinema legends like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire.

I like dancers. I have a thing for girls who dance.

I studied dancing for 13 years. And loved to dance. Always wanted to dance with Fred Astaire.

I love music; I love dancing. I took, like, eight years of ballet when I was a kid, and I still love dancing. There's been a couple of films where I was able to do some dance numbers, like 'Romy and Michelle' and 'Summer of Sam,' and I'm so happy when I get to do that.

I danced a little as a kid here in Canada: in Ottawa at the Elite Dance Studio and at the Top Hat Dance School in Cornwall where I grew up. So I had some experience of having to learn routines.

I was a dancer for many years. I was a premier dancer with 'Porgy and Bess,' the opera. And I taught dance some, in different places.

I started off in dance. That was actually my first passion, which introduced me to music, which people don't really know.

I wanted to be a tap dancer when I was very young.