Heeey, either Jascha Heifetz ripped off Nuryev or the other way around:

If I don't practice for one day, I know it.
If I don't practice for two days, the critics know it.
If I don't practice for three days, the world knows it.

I posted a "wise words," blog awhile back containing some of my personal thoughts on dance.

Here's what I posted:
"1. This dance is bigger than you! It's bigger than that slimy guy who doesn't get it. It's bigger than that dancer who steals gigs and spreads rumors. It's bigger than the restaurant owner who doesn't want to pay. Don't try to force the dance to work for you. Rather, try to work for the dance and everything will fall into place.
2. Perfection does not exist, not in the way most people envision it. Don't aim for perfection. Aim for beauty.
3. Don't lie to your audience. They will know it! Bring REAL emotion with you.
4. Be kind and good things will come to you.
5. Don't dance as if you are merely dancing to the music. Instead dance as if the music is playing because you are moving!"

I wlll light my fire today in the presence of the holy, heavenly angels,
In the presence of Gabriel most beautiful of form,
In the presence of Urial of all beauty,
Without hatred, without envy, without jealousy,
Without fear, without dread of anything under the sun,
And with the Holy Son of God as my refuge.
Lord, kindle in my innermost heart the ember of love for my enemies,
For my relatives, for my friends,
For the wise, for the foolish, for the wretched.

---an Irish blessing

*The audiences' ears hear the music & their eyes see you being that music. Dance is the music made visible. You are the music!
Morocco, New York City, New York (1998

*Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It's a miracle, and the dance... is a celebration of that miracle.
Martha Graham, speech (1965)

* "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time this expression is unique. And if you block it it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it." -Martha Graham

*Do you know what happens when an Arabian woman dances? She does not dance, she protests, she loves, she cries, she makes love, she dreams, she goes away from her reality, to her own world, where love is really meant and she does not want to come back, because that is her reality.
Armand Nassery, writer and filmmaker.

*I have performed for thousands when they found me exotic, the vogue, daring, but I have danced, at any given time, for about ten people.... They were the ones that left the theater forever different from the way they were when they came in. All of my long, long life, I have danced for those ten.
Ruth St. Denis, in Elizabeth Anticaglia, Twelve American Women (1975)

*Beside the fire,
as the wood burns black,
A laughing dancer in veils of light,
Whose dance transforms the darkness to gold.
Abu Abd Allah ben Abi-l-Khisal




I love this one:

"To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking"
- Agnes De Mille

"For in my opinion, the most ordinary things, the most common and familiar, if we could see them in their true light, would turn out to be the grandest miracles of nature and the most marvelous examples, especially as regards the subject of the action of men."
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

"When you pray, move your feet" (African proverb, and one of my favs)

This one also a rival for favs, the original quote is by Marianne Williamson, from A Return to Love. I happen to prefer this adaptation that was used in the moive Coach Carter (terrible movie, great quote):

"Our Deepest Fear is not that we are inadequate... our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

Your playing small does not serve the world, there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone... and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give permission for others to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others".

peace & laLoVe (you can quote me on that ;-)

Love what is ahead by
loving what has come before.

~ Yogi Bhajan

1. Beginning dancer. Knows nothing.
2. Intermediate dancer. Knows everything. Too good to dance with beginners.
3. Hotshot dancer. Too good to dance with anyone.
4. Advanced dancer. Dances everything. Especially with beginners.

~attributed to folk dance teacher Dick Crum

I don't know if she would totally hate me for this...but I LOVE this one:

"There is a story in our dance, a reason we need to dance, a reason we choose specifically, Belly dance. In our search to find the ancient text within our bodies, might we allow our story to evolve, to also speak of the bold feminine we encompass in our present time? Might we find strength in the opening, the fusion of ancient and modern? Let us welcome the force of change, cautious of that which rushes us to adhere tradition to our ever-changing expression.

In dance, once we have learned the challenge of the body, our muscle control, and the tradition from where it comes, we have only begun to unfold the precious fabric of our medium. Let's not stop. Let's continue the evolution of our dance. Let us, dancers, each participate in the continuous creation of our language."

-Sera

*blush* Thank you Samira! Oh I can't wait until that last week of July/ first week of August to be here...There are some amazing quotes on here, so awesome! This is my favorite quote from a piece by Khalil Gibran's the Wanderer

"The soul of the philosopher takes care in his head.
The soul of the poet flies in his heart.
The soul of the singer vibrates in his throat.
But the soul of the dancer lives in her entire body."

And for your poetic pleasures....

~ THE DANCER An Excerpt From The Wanderer by Khalil Gibran

Once there came to the court of the Prince of Birkasha a dancer and her musicians. And she was admitted to the court. And she danced to the music of the flute, the lute, and the zither.

She danced the dance of flames and fire, and the dance of swords and spears; she danced the dance of stars and the dance of space, and then she danced the dance of flowers in the wind.

When she had finished, she approached the prince and bowed her body before him. The price bade her to come nearer, and said unto her, "Beautiful woman, daughter of grace and delight, whence comes your art? And how is it that you command all the elements in your rhythms and your rhymes?"

And the dancer came near and bowed her body again and said, "Gracious majesty, I know not the answer to your questionings. Only this I know: The soul of the philosopher takes care in his head, the soul of the poet flies in his heart, the soul of the singer vibrates in his throat, but the soul of the dancer lives in her entire body."

This one always reminded me of dance...but it can really be for anything.

Passion is fire...light my passion, spark my breath; and make me burn as the sun.

I have all of these quotes posted in and around my dance space....
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The human body moving well is beautiful – Morocco

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Life the life you’ve imagined – H.D. Thoreau

Size doesn’t matter. Haven’t you heard? – Suhaila Salimpour

Don’t impress – express. – Sharon Kihara

PRONUP! – Sharon Kihara (Vigor with intent to improve--think enthusiasm! puppies, trompin over the land! a floppy fist, punching the air, striking out against ill will!)

"No one can arrive from being talented alone; work transforms talent into genius." ~Anna Pavlova

"The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous." ~Margot Fonteyn

"The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark." ~Agnes De Mille

Learn from all. Copy NONE. - Hossam Ramzy

After our shows, the most commonly heard remark to us from our audiences are how happy we look and how happy that made them feel. That is the most important compliment to me, that we were successful in sharing the joy we feel while dancing with our audiences so much so that they feel it too! Joy is contagious! We also hear how 'we light up the room when we dance' and how 'our beaming/radiant faces are a joy to behold.' Who doesn't want/need to feel joy? That is a basic human need. - Kajira Djoumahna

The only things between the dancer you are and the dancer you want to be are time, instruction, and practice – Jim Boz

Misery is a communicable disease – Martha Graham

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion. – Martha Graham

The dancer's body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul. – Isadora Duncan

And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh. – Frederich Nietzsche

Now that we are behind closed doors I can tell you the TRUTH. It is NOT 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. That is folkdance, and women's solo improvised dance is NOT folkdance. It is all ONE, one movement. It is art, and you are free to do as you choose in your art. - Dina

Football isn’t a contact sport. It’s a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport. – Vince Lombardi

"You can show anyone a step, but not a soul." Nadia Gamal

"There is an occation for every dancer. And a dancer for evry occation"
Fazia

What a great thread!

And here's one of my favorites:

"I do not try and dance better than anyone else, I only try and dance better than myself."
- Mikhail Baryshnikov

Here's a link to a page on my website with different assortments of inspiration - games, quoets, quizzes, etc.

The quotes are near the bottom right side of the page and are sorted into different categories.

Enjoy!

www.dancersdreamland.com/soulm...on.htm

"What a queer Lot these Dancers and yet not so queer. The first Attribute of Life is Movement so to dance is to be intensely Alive"
Not sure who said it but it's my personal fav

I completely missed this the first time around... I have a couple...

"There is no magic step. It's the magic you put into each and every step" Fahteim

and my personal life mantra:

"You gotta want it!" Yves Melanson..... mah daddy!

I remind myself of this Maninka (African culture) proverb a lot: "You can pretend to yawn, but you can't pretend to sweat."

One of my mantras to get over my perfectionism: If you've never failed then you've never tried.