Patricia McBride Quotes

You know who a role model for me is? George Ballanchine.

I think Balanchine and Robbins talk to God and when I call, he's out to lunch.

I love working with Alicia Keys, because it's not just the ability to do the dance to me; I think it's the ability to interpret it that excites me the most.

George Balanchine is my role model because his work is so varied. You can see two ballets of his and not even realize that they are by the same choreographer.

I think Twyla [Tharp] has a lot to say. The great thing about Twyla is that she continues to explore.

When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.

Dance has always been my number one. I started when I was seven years old and I've had the opportunity to work with some really amazing artists.

Martha Graham, along with George Balanchine, is one of the two commanding figures in 20th-century American dance. For those much younger than I am, her genius as a performer will have to be taken on faith - and on the always-suspect evidence of film. What will last, if things go well, is her genius as a choreographer, as a woman of the theater.

I dug up my dad's old Fred Astaire tapes, and now I find him super-inspiring. He's, like, one of the best dancers.

I like messing around, and I like working with artists who I respect.

The New York City Ballet is always about the realm of possibilities, the realm of what the human body can do, what the human spirit can do. And it's about listening, it's about listening to remarkable music and how we respond to that.

Adam Shankman has got such love and passion for dance.

Mr. Balanchine was a great gentleman, and he loved his dancers. He was devoted to his company. He came to the ballet every night, and his presence was felt. It was like the whole company was dancing for him. And if he liked you, he trusted you to be yourself. He didn't try to change you and make you into something you were not.

I've never directed, but it must be humbling.

I always wanted to act and sing, but my first love was ballet.

There's the tradition of the 19th-century ballets, and the 20th century has had a difficult time with that tradition. And it's had a difficult time with many components of the Romantic imagination because of modernism.

The ballets you do make you into the final product you are. And I had extraordinary partners.

Audiences love Paul Taylor, and so do I. Not everything, and not always, but year in, year out, he gives me more concentrated pleasure than I get from any other dance company.

Choreography and creativity - it's my matrix; let's see where we can move.

When I was really young, my mom enrolled me in dance classes.

I started with ballet, and once I started to really like it, I got into more - I did jazz and tap, and then kept going.

There's an old Fred Astaire movie where the stage becomes bigger and deeper and more complex. Moments like that really did impact on me and influence me.

When you work with a great director, you realise you are far from being a director.

I have the most respect for Zach Woodlee. He is one of my favorite - and one of the most capable - choreographers out there right now.

Fred Astaire is my hero. I love him because he was willing to kill himself to make his art look effortless. And because he proved it's possible to be an artist and a good person.