There would never have been a British Ballet without Diaghilev. He had a wonderful influence. – Ninette de Valois
At 7, I was at the barre and dancing at folk festivals. Then I was a student with the ballet school of the Metropolitan Opera. – Maria Karnilova
Once, the arts were opera, ballet, classical music, and everything else deemed highbrow. – Melvyn Bragg
Ballet was this thing that just felt so innate in me, like I was meant to be doing this. – Misty Copeland
I can dance. I like hip hop and stuff and jazz movements, but I’m horrible in ballet. I tried. – Keke Palmer
I trained as a ballet dancer – well, I started when I was two and a half, and was serious about it from when I was eight until I was 18. – Jessica Brown Findlay
When I was a kid, I always had my hair in two plaits. But for dancing, I had to have it in a bun because I did ballet. – Katarina Johnson-Thompson
If I had to reflect on the finest classical male ballet dancers of my time, Vladimir Vasiliev of the Bolshoi and the Danish dancer Eric Bruhn were, I feel, without peer. – Jacques d’Amboise
I love dancing and practiced ballet for ten years until I realized I wouldn’t make it professionally – then I started taking salsa classes. I learned to dance samba in Rio and Salvador when I lived in Brazil. – Leila Janah
I had been a ballet dancer and never could make a living, and just being so excited that I got to, all of a sudden, live as an actor. – Lea Thompson
At least in my performances, the audience has become so diverse in a way that I don’t think ballet has ever experienced. – Misty Copeland