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 More Quotes by Mikhail Baryshnikov More Quotes From Mikhail Baryshnikov I was never like, "collect, collect," like people who go to auctions. I never spent a serious amount of time because I don't have any time! Mikhail Baryshnikov serious auctions people I kind of lost interest in the classical dance. I was very much interested in the modern choreography. Mikhail Baryshnikov modern dance kind He [Astaire] was not a sexual animal, but he made his partners look so extraordinarily related to him. Mikhail Baryshnikov totems animal looks Obviously, the young dancers lack a certain air of maturity. Mikhail Baryshnikov dancer maturity air In the second part of life you get rid of stuff you've accumulated. Mikhail Baryshnikov parts-of-life stuff 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 military agreement father Although I don't gamble in life - I've never played poker - I do gamble on stage. I gamble with myself: 'Can I do this?' Mikhail Baryshnikov gamble stage Every ballet, whether or not successful artistically or with the public, has given me something important. Mikhail Baryshnikov ballet dance successful I adored my mother, and I will always have extraordinary memories about her and remember her, and she opened the doors for me to appreciate arts. Mikhail Baryshnikov mother memories art You cannot be happy with your family while being personally unhappy with your work. It's a Catch-22 kind of thing. Mikhail Baryshnikov kind unhappy being-happy I don't try to dance better than anybody but myself. Mikhail Baryshnikov ballet-class dancing dance I go a lot to see young people downtown in little theaters. It's great. If you start somebody's career, it's so exciting. Mikhail Baryshnikov downtown careers people I - you know, I'm not an actor. Mikhail Baryshnikov actors knows My father was a Party member and he was a pretty high rank military officer under the colonel, junior colonel, I don't know the term. He was a total Stalinist. A bit with a streak of anti-Semitism and very shrewd man, a very kind of nervous man. Mikhail Baryshnikov party military father I really reject that kind of comparison that says, Oh, he is the best. This is the second best. There is no such thing. Mikhail Baryshnikov rejects second-best kind In opera tradition, when opera die-hard fans, there is a replacement of singer or singer wasn't at his or hers vocal best, doing something, they boo. Especially now that they pay hundreds of dollars for the ticket. Mikhail Baryshnikov tickets dollars fans To walk across the street is a risk. Mikhail Baryshnikov streets risk walks It's what's left in life, to work with interesting people. Mikhail Baryshnikov left people interesting You can be totally involved, you could admire just the shape of or you could be totally emotionally mushed up into the dance. Mikhail Baryshnikov admire shapes dance I have been very lucky to work in so many new ballets, but that is what a dancer's work is. Mikhail Baryshnikov dancer has-beens lucky
