Soviet regime in a way deprived me from my childhood in my homeland, because my father was in military, and after the Yalta agreement he was sent to teach in military academy in Riga, and I was born then. Mikhail Baryshnikov More Quotes by Mikhail Baryshnikov More Quotes From Mikhail Baryshnikov Just sit and open your eyes and open your heart. It's dance theater. Mikhail Baryshnikov dance eye heart A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought. Mikhail Baryshnikov socialist-countries country art Working is living to me. Mikhail Baryshnikov We're trying to stretch our muscles creatively. It gives us so much more freedom. Mikhail Baryshnikov dance trying giving To achieve some depth in your field requires a lot of sacrifices. Want to or not, you're thinking about what you're doing in life-in my case, dancing. Mikhail Baryshnikov sacrifice dancing thinking You see, dancers are quite mature people because they start performing so early. They become professionals when they start to take everyday classes. Mikhail Baryshnikov dancer class people I've always said, 'I am a selector, I am not defector' - the first few phrases in English I learned. I said I hate 'defector'; something defective about the people. It's a bad word. Mikhail Baryshnikov phrases hate people My mother had a son from previous marriage and her husband died in Second World War. Mikhail Baryshnikov husband mother war If your only dance experience is the Nutcracker, it will be a shock; hopefully shocking in a good way. Mikhail Baryshnikov nutcrackers dance way The problem is not making up the steps but deciding which ones to keep. Mikhail Baryshnikov ballet dance steps I don't drink milk, and I don't eat bread, pasta or rice. But I eat a lot of meat, chicken, fish and salads. Mikhail Baryshnikov drink-milk pasta meat Dancing is my obsession. My life. Mikhail Baryshnikov obsession dancing I always had a kind of strange relationship with New York City, with total love affair in the beginning then retreat during the kind of conservatives of politics and real estate and business came, and then I am again kind of fighting for the justice to the city, to open the city for the artists. Mikhail Baryshnikov fighting real new-york I fell in love with New York. It was like every human being, like any relationship. When I was a young New Yorker, it was one city. When I was a grown man, it was another city. I worked with many dance organizations and many wonderful people. In the '90s, it became kind of a hard and unwelcoming city in many ways. It became conservative, like the whole country. Mikhail Baryshnikov new-york men country I want to see people dance, and I would like to guess what kind of people they are. I don't want to know the recipe for their pasta. Mikhail Baryshnikov recipes dance people People dance at any age. Mikhail Baryshnikov dance inspirational people I think I got disappointed over the years about New York, about the States. You know, sometimes you go and visit Europe and see good old socialism in its good part! You see public concern about art, and young people's participation and young faces in the audience. Mikhail Baryshnikov new-york art thinking You don't measure life by receiving awards. Mikhail Baryshnikov receiving awards I was very restless. I really wanted to be a part of a kind of a progressive society. I was fed up with these Communist doctrines and you were hassled all the time with members of the Party committee who were KGB, what you have to do, where in the West you can go or not to go. Mikhail Baryshnikov kgb doctrine party I get speeding ticket like everybody else. If the restaurant is full I'm waiting in line like everybody else. Mikhail Baryshnikov waiting-in-line tickets lines
