Choreographers Quotes - Page 3

• Dances without purpose have false starts and stops.

  Hanya Holm

  Inspirational, Dance, Dancing

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• So many dancers feel that what they look like is more important than who they are. This is a real danger for dancers who focus for years on appearances and think of themselves as merely a body. The choreographer can't work with them in the realm of ideas. It's a huge problem if they haven't been connecting internally. If they've decided that what's inside is of little value, they can only try to approximate some kind of look.

  Alonzo King

  Real, Thinking, Years

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• Action choreographer is like talking. When you talk, you have a rhythm. When you act, you have a rhythm. When you're moving your body, you have a rhythm. So as an actor, as a choreographer, the objective is trying to blend everything in - into - ultimately back into that character.

  Donnie Yen

  Moving, Character, Talking

  "TalkAsia" with Kristie Lu Stout, www.cnn.com. October 19, 2011.

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• I often say that in making dances I can make a world where I think things are done morally, done democratically, done honestly.

  Twyla Tharp

  Dance, Thinking, Dancing

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• Become the director, producer, choreographer of your own story

  Deepak Chopra

  Directors, Stories, Producers

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• It is said that the Devil has all the best tunes. This is broadly true. But Heaven has the best choreographers

  Terry Pratchett

  Heaven, Devil, Tunes

  "Good Omens". Book by Neil Gaiman, ‎Terry Pratchett, 1990.

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• 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.

  Misty Copeland

  Letting Go, Thinking, People

  Source: bknation.org

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• We learnt a lot because we got in with real choreographers who tell you what they need from a song, because a song has to advance the story. Then real directors like Mike Nichols tell you where you can have 'B themes' and 'C themes', and we go oh yes, B themes and C themes! So we were taught in the finest school amongst the finest people. And also by the school of experience.

  Eric Idle

  Song, Real, School

  "Not The Messiah (He's A Very Naughty Boy) - Eric Idle interview". Interview with Jack Foley, www.indielondon.co.uk.

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• I thought I had to make an impact on history. I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission. Posterity deals with us however it sees fit. But I gave it 20 years of my best shot.

  Twyla Tharp

  Impact, Years, Fit

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• I work as a dancer, but I also work as a choreographer with couples that have a lot of tension between them, and as dancer and as a choreographer, being in this situation is very difficult. You see the energy doesn't flow, and it's very tense.

  Blanca Li

  Couple, Dancer, Energy

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• I know a lot of choreographers prefer to do abstract dance and not be bothered with a story, but even when I'm asked to do classical ballet or a modern piece, I still want to tell a story.

  Susan Stroman

  Ballet, Stories, Pieces

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• A painter is a choreographer of space.

  Barnett Newman

  Space, Painter

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• You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.

  Martha Graham

  Dance, Motivation, Believe

  "The Life and Work of Martha Graham". Book by Agnes de Mille, p. 264, 1991.

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• I think I just have this need to be a storyteller. That's why I wasn't a great dancer - I couldn't articulate a story. I was a better choreographer. I have the need to to just express myself in that way. I can't explain it.

  Rosie Perez

  Thinking, Dancer, Needs

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• You cannot dance physically certain things. But look at tango dancers or flamenco or Japanese classical theater. You can, if you're smart enough and you collaborate with the right choreographers, you could really dance your age.

  Mikhail Baryshnikov

  Smart, Dancer, Age

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• I design all of my costumes. I like to go out there and feel like I have contributed to every part of what I do. I choose the music, the choreographer, I've obviously chosen my coach, my costumes - all if that falls under my realm of power, my realm of influence.

  Johnny Weir

  Fall, Design, Costumes

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• I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission, and that's what I set out to do.

  Twyla Tharp

  Greatness, Missions, My Time

  "The High Priestess of Creative Movement". Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 25, 1993.

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• I feel such a difference between a philologist/linguist and a linguaphile as, say, a choreographer and a ballerina.

  Kató Lomb

  Differences, Ballerina, Feels

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• From my experience as an actor, choreographer, action director, and producer, I understand the elements and the dynamics of being a film maker.

  Donnie Yen

  Actors, Elements, Dynamics

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• In Hong Kong, particularly, we craft this art for decades. The action choreographer actually is the action director. He takes over and he choreographs with - by himself or with his team, and place the camera where he feels cinematic effect to bring out that choreography.

  Donnie Yen

  Art, Team, Directors

  "TalkAsia" with Kristie Lu Stout, www.cnn.com. October 19, 2011.

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• When a dancer comes onstage, he is not just a blank slate that the choreographer has written on.  Behind him he has all the decisions he has made in life. Each time, he has chosen, and in what he is onstage, you see the result of those choices.  You are looking at the person he is, and the person who, at this point, he cannot help but be  Exceptional dancers, in my experience, are also exceptional people, people with an attitude toward life, a kind of quest, and an internal quality.  They know who they are, and they show this to you, willingly.

  Mikhail Baryshnikov

  Attitude, People, Choices

  "Loners". www.newyorker.com. December 12, 2005.

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• Sure, I could give advice; I could, say, travel the world, listen to music. But all I can really say is do something you want to do and do it well. And if you want to be a choreographer, then you have to make dances.

  Mark Morris

  Giving, Advice, Want

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• A choreographer deals with the movement that you create, and with a creative director it's about the story, the stage, the lighting, the costuming, executing someone's idea, choosing how far to go or how little to go, and blending it so that you feel it, you're emotionally effected.

  Laurieann Gibson

  Ideas, Creative, Directors

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• The number of e-mails and letters that I get from choreographers, from sculptors, from composers who are being inspired by science is huge.

  Brian Greene

  Numbers, Letters, Mail

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• The one reason people don't take dance seriously is because a lot of choreographers don't take dance seriously.

  Mark Morris

  People, Reason

  "Portrait of the artist: Mark Morris, choreographer". Interview with Laura Barnett, www.theguardian.com. October 19, 2009.

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