Mikhail Baryshnikov Quotes

I cannot stand authority.

I cannot belong to a nonprofit organization because when you receive grants, you have to make such great compromises with your artistic plans.

I am teaching more. That is what I do best.

I am not trying to do material which I cannot do full out.

I - you know, I'm not an actor.

Dances have a second and third life. You feel they are never ready. They always have a chance for another life.

Although I don't gamble in life - I've never played poker - I do gamble on stage. I gamble with myself: 'Can I do this?'

A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought.

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

You cannot be happy with your family while being personally unhappy with your work. It's a Catch-22 kind of thing.

In the second part of life you get rid of stuff you've accumulated.

I really reject that kind of comparison that says, Oh, he is the best. This is the second best. There is no such thing.

Every ballet, whether or not successful artistically or with the public, has given me something important.

Creative Artists Agency put together a project of extraordinary mediocrity and colossal stupidity. Otherwise, it was great.

Astaire was not a sexual animal, but he made his partners look so extraordinarily related to him.

I get speeding ticket like everybody else. If the restaurant is full I'm waiting in line like everybody else.

I've always said, 'I am a selector, I am not defector' - the first few phrases in English I learned. I said I hate 'defector'; something defective about the people. It's a bad word.

To achieve some depth in your field requires a lot of sacrifices. Want to or not, you're thinking about what you're doing in life-in my case, dancing.

People of art should never get married and have children, because it's a selfish experience.

I am not the first straight dancer or the last.

Dancing is my obsession. My life.

No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business.

Dancers are stripped enough onstage. You don't have to know more about them than they've given you already.

I think art education, especially in this country, which government pretty much ignores, is so important for young people.

I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.