America Now Has More And

I Never Wanted To Be A Dancer. It's True! I Wanted To Be A Shortstop For The Pittsburgh Pirates.

Fred Astaire Represented The Aristocracy, I Represented The Proletariat.

America Now Has More And Better Dancers Than They Have Ever Had In The History Of The Country, But That Won't Account For The Public Wants To See.

I Saw Mikhail Baryshnikov Do Twyla Tharp's Sinatra Suite On Pbs. I Have No Numbers To Prove It, But I Bet That Kids Who Saw That Loved It. I Think You Will See Younger Dancers, Who Certainly Have The Artistic Sense And Capabilities, Start Going Back To Romantic Numbers.

In The 1930s There Was This Tendency In Hollywood To Portray Everyone As Rich. Even If They Were Doing A Poor Man's Dance, They Were All So Nicely Clothed, Gowned, Coiffured. That's Why I Decided To Wear White Socks, Loafers, T-shirts, And Blue Jeans. I Had A Sociopolitical Context In Front Of Me: I Was A Child Of The Depression Who Danced In A Way That Would Represent The Common Man.