I Know My Body. What Happened Is

In Saying My Prayers, I Discovered The Voice Of An Innermost Self, The Raw Nerve Of My Identity.

The Voices Of Moral Authority In The Theatre Demanded Only Punctuality And Physical Performance. In The Light Of Continuing Pressure And Stress, The Occasional Lip Service Paid To Moderation Was Meaningless. Starvation And Poisoning Were Not Excesses, But Measures Taken To Stay Within The Norm.

As Soon As You Become Afraid To Make A Fool Of Yourself, You're In Trouble. I Decided I May As Well Just See If I Can Live With Myself Making Millions Of Mistakes And Learn Something From It.

There Was A Stage When Balanchine And I Didn't Talk. I Was Trying To Develop My Classical Technique As Opposed To The Fast-track Technique That He Was Pushing. We Were Very Quiet With Each Other. But After Two Years He Saw What I Was Doing And Sent Messages Through Other People That, Yes, This Is Good.

You've Got To Break Through This Idea Of Being Light As A Ballerina. The Heavier You'll Feel, The Lighter You'll Look.