Robert Gottlieb Quotes

'The Company' was interesting. I didn't love it, although it might be compelling to someone who isn't a dancer. There wasn't a lot of dialogue, and you were just kind of observing the creative process of choreography and in class.

I've always thought of the process of creating ballets as being this kind of team effort. It's not like being a painter, where you have your paint, and you have canvas, and you just go at it. I'm working with these living, breathing, functioning human beings, and they have their own thoughts and ideas about what works well movement-wise.

Those 25 dancers we worked with for a day, in as highly productive a way as possible - a long class, a period of teaching bits of the repertory - in fact I didn't teach Bank, I've used parts of Oil and Water.

I was always the kid down the street who got the other kids to put on a show. But it was only when I was 19, and discovered ballet and contemporary dance, that I got interested in the fact that you could have a whole evening of dance - rather than just waiting for the dancers in a musical.

Unlike a lot of choreographers, I don't always start with the music. I often start with a visual artist, and then find music that fits the world of that visual artist.

Honestly, I am so ignorant of how dance works that I can't even imagine a story that you would want to tell through movement.

Every great dance company, even when it seems poised in perfect balance, needs constant renewal of both repertory and performers.

I would describe my dancing talents as incredibly deep.

I was a late bloomer, but I had a career as a contemporary dancer before that, so I had some kind of connection to this world. But I was always a little more in love with the drama of dancing than the aesthetics, so I thought, 'Why don't you give it a chance if you think you can do it a little different?'

Choreography is mentally draining, but there's a pleasure in getting into the studio with the dancers and the music.

I collaborated on most of my dance numbers, literally 50/50, with the choreographers I worked with.

I had always choreographed a little, beginning in high school. And I leaned toward choreography. I always had an overview of what was going on.

In every shoot, between the actor and the director there is manipulation. I'm not saying that negatively. It's healthy.

For me, the choreography always comes from the music.

I've made storylines through dance to complement the music. It's all about enhancing the singing and acting. It's been an amazing learning curve for me.

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.

The way Beyonce works, the song is a jigsaw piece and then she will piece various elements.

I'm trying to create ballets that I would enjoy seeing.

I'm a director's actor, and I surrender myself to the vision and the process. I think nothing else matters then.

There have been times when I booked out a dance studio and I've tried to choreograph in there and suddenly I feel like I have no creativity.

Making dances is an act of progress; it is an act of growth, an act of music, an act of teaching, an act of celebration, an act of joy.

To make up a dance, I still need, as I needed then, a pot of tea, walking space, privacy and an idea.

The first time I started choreographing was in the dark, in my living room, with the lights completely out, to some popular music on the radio. I put the radio on full blast and I started moving. I didn't know what it looked like. I didn't want to see it... I had to start in the dark.

As an actor you don't control the end result. Because you're a director, you get to control the end result. I think for us, we really have to show up and participate and give. And then let go.

People often ask me if I consider myself to be an architect, fashion designer, or artist. I'm an architect. The paintings I've done are very important to me, but they were part of a process of thinking and developing.