I Took It As It

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 Had Been Asked To Open A Nightclub In Atlantic City. They Offered Me A Ridiculous Amount Of Money. They Literally Overpaid Me. So I Did One Show A Night. Then They Asked Me Back By Popular Demand. So I Went Back. Then I Said, "to Hell With This." I Was Only Doing It For The Money, And I Was Doing Easy Routines. It's Just Too Much Work To Get Up Every Day And Practice.

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.

I Don't Even Want To Discuss Flashdance. I'm No Critic, But That's An Interesting Phenomenon, That Picture.

Things Danced On The Screen Do Not Look The Way They Do On The Stage. On The Stage, Dancing Is Three-dimensional, But A Motion Picture Is Two-dimensional.