I had no sense of having reached some goal because I was an etoile at the Paris Opera. My ambition, if you can call it that, was to discover and learn and be excited by what I was doing. If I didn't have that, I would find it elsewhere. Sylvie Guillem More Quotes by Sylvie Guillem More Quotes From Sylvie Guillem Having limits to push against is how you find out what you can do. I have always been full of contradictions. I am shy but I love the freedom of the stage. I need reassurance but at the same time I don’t want it. I hate being afraid but I can’t help wanting to frighten myself. That is how you grow. Sylvie Guillem shy hate needs Having limits to push against is how you find out what you can do. Sylvie Guillem perseverance women inspirational Technical perfection is insufficient. It is an orphan without the true soul of the dancer. Sylvie Guillem dancing dance perfection I just know that when I go onstage, I give everything I have, not only my feet, not only my legs, not only my body. I try to tell a story. Sometimes I am able to cry because I feel like it. Sometimes I am able to love because I feel like it. Sylvie Guillem dance feet love-is No, dance is not a monster. The stage is monstrous, not in the negative sense but on the grandiose side. And dance is sacred as something emotionally strong happens. Sylvie Guillem strong monsters negative My body is very nice to me. I have a lucky physique - I just don't take weight on. Sylvie Guillem nice luck weight When I was very young I was very shy but at the same time I was very open cause I was very curious so I wanted to try many things. Sylvie Guillem shy causes trying I love nature like nothing else. Before I moved to Switzerland, my home was a flat in London with a garden. In those snatched moments away from dance, I did typical weekend things like pruning, planting, and weeding. I planted fruit trees and even had a vegetable garden, but I wasn't around enough, so it was a disaster. Sylvie Guillem dance nature home love 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. Sylvie Guillem great tradition garden beautiful A drop of water can't stop a fire alone. But a drop of water, plus another one, plus another one, then you have the rain, and the rain can stop the fire. Sylvie Guillem alone you rain water Working with a new style of choreography is always a period of adaptation. Sylvie Guillem working new always style Terrorism is not a small problem. Sylvie Guillem small terrorism problem Walking in the mountains helps me unwind, but it also reminds me in a painful way that the real beauty in life is nature and animals, and that the human race, in all its arrogance, is intent on destroying it. Sylvie Guillem me nature beauty life 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. Sylvie Guillem feeling good me people One has to learn to say, 'Wait, there is a pain that is not logical. I will do a scan, and if there is something serious, I will stop immediately.' If the body sends a message, you have to listen to it. Sylvie Guillem wait you pain serious If you are afraid of losing something, then you are dependent on it. If you are not afraid, then you are free. Sylvie Guillem something free you losing I like creation even if the process is always a bit difficult. Sylvie Guillem always difficult creation process I do not want an animal to die for me. Sylvie Guillem die me want animal When you start, you have no brain; you are a kid. It's fine. But then I started to be scared. I was scared of judgment - not as a dancer, but as a person - and I was really uncomfortable with people. And it lasted for a very long time. Sylvie Guillem you time long people People thought I had no feelings, that I was hard. But really, I was extremely sensitive to everything. Sylvie Guillem everything thought feelings people
