Sylvie Guillem

“I have learned a great deal from the theatrical side of Covent Garden. The Paris Opera Ballet is more concerned with technique. It's perfect. It's beautiful. It's well done. But it lacks the theatrical tradition that is so important in England. At the Royal Ballet, absolutely everyone on stage seems to be caught up in the plot.”

“I don't think you can ever leave the stage easily.”

“If I am out in the street or buying bread or taking a taxi, no one knows who I am.”

“I like creation even if the process is always a bit difficult.”

“There's a picture of me as a little girl, and I'm waiting to go onstage, and I am biting the last bit of nail I have left on my finger.”

“I am a bit of a boss, even when it's about the composting. This goes here! This goes there! Don't do that! Maybe for the sake of others, I should let go a bit.”

“The problems I had with the Paris Opera Ballet are a thing of the past.”

“If an idea comes and I am attracted to it, I will do it.”

“Choreographers tend to treat ballet dancers like kids they can manipulate.”

“For someone like me, who as a kid could not have two people in front of me without wanting to hide, to end up on stage with a lot of people in front of me, feeling good, it has to be a strange and special place.”

“I like creation even if it is a bit difficult. It is always very exciting.”

“I think the only regret I have is not to have opened my eyes sooner to aspects of life like the relationship of man with nature and animals.”

“You don't start by saying, 'Well, am I better than her?' Because that goes nowhere. Instead, all your work, your passion, your will has to go into what you do. And then if there is a result, if people like you, if you are a bit different, then fine.”

“Dance should touch people.”

“When a real artist creates something, it has to be a necessity, the only way he can say something.”

“When you are young, you can do anything, everything, and nothing at the same time. You don't have that kind of judgment; you just eat... like teenagers that need to feed. After a while, you know exactly what you are looking for, that sense of analysis comes to you when you start to use your brain.”

“I never dreamt of becoming a ballerina. I was just curious about it, it was something to explore.”

“Most producers who want you to dance are not looking at the long term. They see their evenings, the box office, whom they have to repay, whatever.”

“When I was doing gymnastics, I was playing. It was fun. The ballet was not fun at all. Yes, I agree you must have discipline, but you don't need to be a witch. You can't teach a child like that. Three times a week, I went back to train as a gymnast. Then I was happy.”

“It's true I have a side of me that isn't very adult. I can get very emotional about things. I can become crazy, act the clown.”