Darcey Bussell Quotes

I have been very lucky to work in so many new ballets, but that is what a dancer's work is.

I know that dancers, especially ballet dancers, can't do it forever.

I've been dancing for 20 years. I just kept doing the same job that I've always done.

So many people think of me as a character on TV, but first and foremost, my passion is teaching dance and creating employable, working dancers.

I wanted to be a professional dancer my whole life.

I am thankful that 'Jhalak' made me a professional dancer now from just a 'barat' dancer.

Nobody is born a dancer.

You see, dancers are quite mature people because they start performing so early. They become professionals when they start to take everyday classes.

I am different because I have better schooling, better understanding of the line, gesture, how feet working, positions. They taught me modern things... and I wanted to give what I had: my schooling.

Black people dance well because we start early - there's music being played everywhere. White people? They don't start dancing until they get to college, and by then, it's too late; the bottom don't move with the top no matter how hard they try.

As soon as I started dancing at 14, I knew I was always going to be a professional dancer.

But you do have to start young as a dancer if you're going to achieve the physical skills necessary.

I find that dancers are only well trained in ballet these days.

Dance is a profession with an expiration date for many people.

I didn't grow up on dance class. I was always natural. I've been in the industry since I was eight and I've always had a choreographer since then. But I never really took ballet or anything like that.

Seeing 'Revelations' made me want to be a professional dancer.

Dancers are made, not born.

I wanted to be a professional dancer for a period of time, and I did a lot of dancing and choreography and got paid for it.

You spend your life having lessons, practising and competing as an amateur, and working during the day. As you get to the top end of the amateur field, you try not to work anymore; you earn your living through dancing, maybe by doing a bit of teaching. It's an ongoing life's work.

I have lots of interests, but it's true that dancing is a very full-time job.

And I just thought, this is what I want to be. And I knew that dancing would be my chosen profession.

I'd studied dance in Chicago every summer end taught it all winter, and I was well-rounded. I wasn't worried about getting a job on Broadway. In fact, I got one the first week.

A lot of professional dancers become professional when they turn 15 or 16 years old, when they're still children. So you've trained every single waking moment up until that point for a career that could maybe only last 10 years, maybe longer if your body holds up, if your injuries are kept at bay.

I began dancing when I was 7 years old. I was told that I had the perfect ballet dancer's body and had these crazy high arches in my feet that resulted in an amazing point. Ballet was very disciplined and, frankly, a little boring, so I eventually transitioned to gymnastics. I loved that, although I never reached a competitive level.

I studied dance at a high school arts magnet program before moving on to Miami's New World School of the Arts, and from there, I went on to study at The Juilliard School.