Stephen Hough Quotes

How can we know the dancer from the dance?

You may feel that Peter Martins' 'Beauty' is too compressed and inexpressive, but it's loyal to the text.

Dancers are a work of art - they are the canvas on which their work is painted.

You can have the greatest player in terms of mastering an instrument and you could be yawning your head off when you hear them. So, it's not what you do, but the way you're doing it and in the end that's all that we have.

Balanchine was just able to strike the balance between literal narrative and abstract dance.

To me, there's way more to being a good drummer than precision and technique.

It's not what you play, it's how you play it.

Talent will only take you so far, and it is your ability to feel the music and explore a movement that will bring you the greatest pleasure in dance.

No talent lies in my dancing.

I have brought you to the ring, now dance if you can.

Dance is a universal language, and whether you know how to dance or grew up training in dance, you have a respect for people who love to dance, and it's also visually very entertaining to watch a great dancer.

I love to dance. I've been told I'm actually really good.

I don't ever consciously change gears when I play jazz or classical. It's all music.

As far as practicing is concerned, I usually try to do one to two hours a day. It isn't good to practice too much, or your playing becomes too mechanical.

As ballerinas, we don't use our voices. Our voice is the body and the movement quality.

For me, the intellect is always the guide but not the goal of the performance. Three things have to be coordinated, and not one must stick out. Not too much intellect because it can become scholastic. Not too much heart because it can become schmaltz. Not too much technique because you become a mechanic.

Absolutely, I'll always be a dancer.

I started dancing almost before I could walk.

I always liked dancing and you'd go to class and find you had an hour acting and an hour of ballet.

In the ballet studio, it was such an organized and disciplined environment, like I'd never had in my life. Seeing myself in the mirror, surrounded by the classical music, that's when I started to fall in love with dance.

Sayyeesha is a great dancer.

Technique wasn't my favorite thing to learn, and I doubt I would be great teaching it.

I'm in love with the way that Ella Fitzgerald delivered a lyric. She would deliver a lyric with the kind of clarity that would make you wonder why it was written, and make you think about the writer. I think every writer hopes an Ella of any genre or anytime gets a hold of their work and works the song like that.

It's very important to focus on the music first. That's always number one. But after that, it's extremely important to just have fun with what you're doing.

Technique is superficial. The method used in applying technique is what gives music its character.