Paul Taylor Quotes

My goal was to become the best dancer in the world and, because I started late, I always had this feeling I was playing catch-up, so I've been a bit of a maniac most of my life, sort of striving.

I was really creative. I started to dance very young. I loved to dance. I begged my mother to put me into dance classes, and finally, in third grade, she did. Tap and jazz, but not ballet.

My mom put me into dance classes, found out that I can't dance to save my life.

Nobody is born a dancer.

I don't have dance history or background.

I've been dancing all my life, but I never did it seriously.

A dancer's life is hard - it is so physically demanding, and at any moment, you could have an injury that could end your career.

I can't shoot myself in the foot before I get in the chorus line.

A good dancer is an educated one, so don't abandon school.

I went to dance class as a girl because I didn't like sports, but I never did a dance recital in my life. Never, ever, ever. I felt comfortable dancing, and I was happiest dancing, but I was never the best person in the class.

I'm always very nervous about the word 'dancer' next to my name because anyone who's really trained in dance will go, 'This guy's fudging so badly.'

I never danced a step in my life so naturally. My first motion picture was a musical, and Bob Fosse was the choreographer. I didn't exactly dance for Fosse, I just did the best that I could to do what he taught us to do.

A little bit of stage fright, then I'm ready.

Right before I go on stage, I'm absolutely terrified. My mind darts at many directions, but the center of me is going forward into the performance.

I frequently go to the ballet, but I don't miss it in the sense that I wish I were still dancing.

Twyla's works are complex, and they really push you as an athlete and push you spiritually as well. Before doing a Twyla ballet, you have to get everything in order: You have to get a good night's sleep, you have to eat well, you have to be in great shape, and then you just go and leave it all out there.

I did tap dancing and stuff like that at drama school. I did ballet as well. My dance teacher and I didn't necessarily get along all that well sometimes. She's brilliant... but it's just because I don't like wearing tights that I put up a bit of a fight there, I think.

I'm not naturally a gifted dancer, and I don't enjoy it.

We didn't have any real proper school. We did not have a place to go to learn to dance and the joy of dancing.

My mother was very keen I learn dance and I learnt so many forms.

The fear of failing... not quite the fear of failing, but the uncertainty of whether you are going to perform or not, is there every single game I have played in my life. It will always be there.

Dancers are working their bodies just like a marathon runner would, and you have to eat to make it through a three-hour performance. Dancers put their bodies through incredible strain.

I was a dancer, so I always loved watching girls perform and dance and just always looked up to them and their bodies.

I had learnt Kathak for six years from the age of eight and did a foundation course from Kathak Kendra in Delhi. I was not fond of classical dance, but today, I'm glad my mom made me do it.

Procrastination also can be a way of self-handicapping: if you don't do a great job, you can always say to yourself, "If I'd only started sooner, I'd have been able to produce something excellent."