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Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
Divinity of art, it's such a mystery. How to convince people that no matter how much money you can spend on education and art education especially, that it implants, it directs a young person for the rest of their lives, and always in the most humane and positive and dignified manner.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
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I have some Russian friends. But probably only 10 percent. I don't hang out usually in the big Russian communities in Brooklyn and New Jersey.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
You can be totally involved, you could admire just the shape of or you could be totally emotionally mushed up into the dance.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
To walk across the street is a risk.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
I am teaching more. That is what I do best.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
What do dancers think of Fred Astaire? It's no secret. We hate him. He gives us a complex because he's too perfect. His perfection is an absurdity. It's too hard to face.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
Your body actually reminds you about your age and your injuries - the body has a stronger memory than your mind.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
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I don't go to a gym, I don't do yoga. I don't do personal training.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
Just sit and open your eyes and open your heart. It's dance theater.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
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.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
Nobody is born a dancer.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
A theater is such a revealing form of art, such a transparent and good actors, they're such powerful individuals. I always kind of dreamt that one day I will open my mouth on stage.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
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.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
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I read Russian literature a lot.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
What brought me to the theater, no matter you're a Jew or a Russian or Armenian or Latvian, are suddenly illuminated by stage light and one beautiful image of dance.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
The Russian people get so insanely close to each other as friends. Their lives are interrelated so much on an everyday basis.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
Be. Good. To yourself, to other people, to everything you do. It's a norm of life by which people should try to live. Don't waste time. Be interesting and interested.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
People of art should never get married and have children, because it's a selfish experience.
Mikhail Baryshnikov -
When I'm alone, I work sometimes with music, sometimes without and sometimes just listening to NPR.
Mikhail Baryshnikov