Wendy Whelan

“I feel the ticking clock. And at times, I've said if I don't dance, I'd rather die.”

“I always looked at the process and the career of being a ballerina as sacred. It's a true gift to have this talent and perform these masterworks; it's sublime.”

“I look back, and I have no regrets, truly. Everything led me to the place where I am now.”

“There are many ways to lead a life. It would always be ideal to have a paycheck coming in. But I really love this fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants approach. It's scary and wonderful at the same time. I feel very open to many possibilities.”

“I've let my body soften. I've let it relax.”

“I was dancing on Broadway for many years. Then everyone was either getting injured or retiring, and I was dancing with younger dancers.”

“As I aged and I got stronger artistically, I really started to value my voice in performance - my 'voice' meaning my body, my technique, and my style. Then I started to really feel that flower as well. That's when I started to feel like, 'Wow - now I understand what my beauty is.'”

“When you are a kid, you find so much comfort in dancing. I was comforted.”

“Being a ballerina, you don't ever want to show yourself less than perfect, ever. That's what your goal is: 24/7 perfection.”

“Aging gracefully means being flexible, being open, allowing change, enjoying change and loving yourself.”

“My art form is my child, and that's what I give my focus to.”

“I think the leotard for me became, after I retired, a sort of a symbol of the confines of still fitting into the ballet world in mind and body.”

“I knew I wanted to be a ballet dancer, but what kind, I wasn't sure. My two dream companies had been New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater.”

“As ballerinas, we don't use our voices. Our voice is the body and the movement quality.”

“I was so comfortable with my ballet power, my dancer power, that to have a voice, the comfort with having a voice, is slower to come to me.”

“The moment is everything. Don't think about tomorrow; don't think about yesterday: think about exactly what you're doing right now and live it and dance it and breath it and be it.”

“I liked the structure of ballet.”

“A lot of my career and my drive and my passion and my striving to be better and better was built on insecurity.”

“Certain people have certain ways of focusing on things, and some arrange their lens to a pinhole in order to focus only on their goal. Others have a giant lens, and they take in the whole panorama. I was that pinhole kind of person.”

“I have a lot of energy, a lot of interest, a lot of desire.”