Nigel Lythgoe Quotes

I think overall body awareness and knowing exactly where I need to be makes a big difference. Knowing how much weight to put on each foot or where I need to put my hands are things I'm very good at. Obviously with the wrestling background those are things that come naturally.

With Michael Jackson, when he moved, it looked like a martial artist to me. He was quicker than other dancers, but he didn't have muscles; he was just quicker and looked more in control of gravity. He looked like a martial arts master, so I tried to steal body movement from him; that's why I imitate Michael Jackson a little bit.

Everything is about your movements and precision and timing, which is what gymnastics is about.

I was a dancer for fifteen years, and I think a lot of what dancing gives you crosses over so much into anything to do with fighting, martial arts, anything action.

It's definitely a necessity to make split-second decisions when you're doing gymnastics because things don't always go perfect.

In gymnastics, you have to be perfect every step along the way.

For a gymnast to be successful, she needs to strike a balance of everything within herself. She needs to be graceful, flexible, perform all elements, turns, maintain co-ordination - she has to have all of that. If, for example, she only has co-ordination and nothing else, she will not succeed.

Dancing really teaches you to be aware of your body, and that transitioned well into wrestling.

My training and ballet background definitely gives me the competitive edge on the ice.

A lot of people know me for my speed and my flexibility. I like to jump, but I'm not really the best jumper. I'm more of a spinner.

I can run up a wall and do a back flip - that's the most impressive thing that I can do.

Gymnasts are short, stocky, muscular powerhouses.

I'm pretty athletic, but I'm not very strong.

Your physicality is this great thing, but it is also the thing that makes you clumsy and limits you in the world, so to speak.

People think skating would translate very easily to dancing, but it really doesn't. Dancing is a lot of fun and not as dangerous as being on the ice.

You are an athlete if you are a dancer.

When I was younger, I used to wrestle, and I feel that it contributed to my athletic ability because as a wrestler you have to be an all-encompassed athlete. You need stamina, strength, endurance and mental capacity. You also have to learn how to adapt in any situation.

I've danced my whole life. Martial arts is just fun for me, it's all choreographed a bit like dance. I have done Muay Thai and Wushu, which is cool because it's very fluid dance. I also do Tricking. It's kind of like Taekwondo with the big kicks and flips and showier aspects of martial arts.

My years of ballet and jazz dance lessons didn't make me any more graceful - they just helped keep me from bumping into the furniture on stage.

Scouts have always been surprised by the way I'm able to move at my size. How fast and agile I am.

They do say, the smaller the feet, the better the dancer.

Ballet teaches you how to hold yourself.

I took several years of dance lessons that included ballet, tap and jazz. They helped a great deal with body control, balance, a sense of rhythm, and timing.

Kicks are my forte. I've got strong legs and high kicks. And I've got very good reach, obviously.

As an adult, I took ballet classes three times a week, and I believed it gave me better posture, a stronger body, and made me more graceful.