MARIA KARNILOVA

At 7, I was at the barre and dancing at folk festivals. Then I was a student with the ballet school of the Metropolitan Opera.

My mother never learned English, but in Russia, the greatest thing was to give a child to the arts. And so they gave me to the ballet.

Once on stage, I was thinking of something else, and I forgot my line. I became so frightened. The girl I was playing with also became so frightened, she couldn't give me the next line. I just walked off stage.

If you relax too much, the subconscious plays the role; the conscious does something else, rather than the other way around, which is the way it's supposed to be.

Once on stage, I was thinking of something else, and I forgot my line. I became so frightened. The girl I was playing with also became so frightened, she couldn't give me the next line. I just walked off stage.

My mother never learned English, but in Russia, the greatest thing was to give a child to the arts. And so they gave me to the ballet.

At 7, I was at the barre and dancing at folk festivals. Then I was a student with the ballet school of the Metropolitan Opera.

If you relax too much, the subconscious plays the role; the conscious does something else, rather than the other way around, which is the way it's supposed to be.