Merce Cunningham Quotes

I'm definitely influenced by the music. We dance to music, and you have to listen to it and phrase your dancing and movement in a certain way to compliment the music. We have to work hand in hand, the dancer and the music.

Art and nature shall always be wrestling until they eventually conquer one another so that the victory is the same stroke and line: that which is conquered, conquers at the same time.

Any guitar solo should reflect the music that it's soloing over and not just be existing in its own sort of little world.

I will be very frank with you. I was the last to consent to separation; but the separation having been made, and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power.

I am a lot happier, focusing on the production side of things than wanting to be in front of the camera. If I am going to dance to someone else's tune, it might as well be my own.

It's really important to me that my sound is a combination of beats and melody. I love hearing strong, confident beats in music because I love to dance. At the same time, melody is really important to me because I love singing.

A people free to choose will always choose peace.

Life mixes tones all the time.

It's a luxury to not have to just be performing with other people to have my music heard.

There's a beauty in being part of a band, when there's equality and trust.

We in South Africa had a relatively peaceful transition. If our madness could end as it did, it must be possible to do the same everywhere else in the world. If peace could come to South Africa, surely it can come to the Holy Land.

The democratic option is the only alternative to solving the Kurdish question. Separation is neither possible nor necessary. We want peace, dialogue, and free political action within the framework of a democratic Turkish state.

As a child, I would say that I wanted to become a dancer to honour music. For me, dancing is the physical translation of the audio recording.

I did ballet, jazz, and all that, but I think hip-hop is really where I learned rhythm and groove, which has helped me in music.

I definitely enjoy working with people who can do their thing but also allow me to do my thing, you know? Who respect the process.

I like to express myself inside of the work that is given, and I let the dancers do the same.

Music should never be a dictatorship. It should be a symbiotic relationship between the musician and the audience.

I wish the people of India and Pakistan peace and harmony. Artistes and craftsmen in both the countries must interact with each other as talent has no borders. We both have common music, culture and craftsmanship.

My philosophy on choreography is that the making of a ballet is a team effort, and we're in this together. It's not me hammering on them. It's more about how we can elevate this piece collectively to something great.

Creating a dance is like coming up with a Chuck Berry riff.

Everybody in Odd Future is their own artist - they have their own friends and their own ideas for things - so we all spent quite a lot of time separated.

I know that I'm in grime, but I had to separate myself and do things myself.

When it comes down to dance, dance is about movement to music.

Dancers are trained to be disciplined to do what they are told, but I knew that time goes by, and I didn't want to make the mistakes of the others.

I've done a lot of writing for other people, other projects, and what I tried to do with the music I'm putting out for myself is kind of keep it where I'm doing everything.