Movement Exploration Quotes

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

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 wasn't a ballet baby. My first dance class was in an outdoor pavilion when I was three. It was called 'creative movement.' The teacher gave us chiffon scarves in beautiful colors. She turned on some music and said, 'Now go dance.' So for me, dance has always been about self-expression.

From the time I was three and a half... as soon as I could stand on my own feet, I was given dance lessons.

There's an innate feeling when I choreograph in juxtaposition to how I feel as a dancer. When I choreograph, I never really look into the mirror. But as dancers, we always check ourselves in the mirror. I do feel that when I choreograph, I am making a dance on my own body. Much of it is my own response to the music.

I can't remember the exact age, but I do remember being very young when I started to dance and listen to music.

In high school, during lunchtime I would go in the room where the wrestling mats were and try different flips and different moves. Like windmills. I just started mixing martial arts with jazz and contemporary stuff and it would get mashed together and became my style.

When you have a sense of yourself in space, in your movement, in your muscles, you can express yourself through your body, your instrument. You learn so much about who you are and what your truth is.

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.

If you don't have the ability or encouragement to use yourself in a physical way, you could become just another talking head. And talking heads run things. That's part of the reason why we're in such a sad state as a planet, because it's all about thinking, and thinking has led to a lot of aggrandizement - taking over [resources] and figuring out how you can steal and leaving people and the planet in an impoverished state.

I love accents; I would love to find more characters with a variety of vocal intonations. It creates a character. It's like you're singing a song. Some people find their character through walking or movement - for me, voice is one of the ways I find parts of the character.

There is a clearing for new creative thought in choreography. I don't feel intimidated; there is a lot I can do that is new or innovative or different.

Parkour is really a practice of getting to know yourself, what you're able to do, what are your limits. As you train, you start knowing what you can do.

Working with a new style of choreography is always a period of adaptation.

When I was a kid, I was really curious about acting. And I was interested in movement and dance. I wasn't good at either of those things - I didn't work at those things.

'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.

What makes people and companies and artistic directors and choreographers interested in working with dancers is the ability to kind of let go of everything you think you know and be a blank canvas.

I started dancing in my room... I wanted to find out more about my movements. I wanted to elaborate on whatever it was that I was doing there.

My body can't demonstrate. It isn't willing to explore movements the way it used to. I've always had to find the movement in myself then show it in myself. If I've got the sense of movement for the character, I expect the dancer to get it too.

I can't do choreographed movement. It has to come from my heart... and my pelvis.

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.

I've always been just as interested in making people think as I am in making them feel, and one of the things this scientific process allows me to do is make the audience look differently at dance.

I really want the audience to place close attention to the movement, possibilities of movement, possibilities of trespassing boundaries and observe what's possible in different social settings, and different settings of class designation as well.

As far as I'm concerned, dance is a passion for me. I don't do homework and go to the sets. I believe in being impromptu. I just go on the sets and start doing whatever comes to my mind.

The moment your kids start crawling, they are exercising. To them, movement is fun and organic... It is adults who have turned daily activity into a mandatory chore.