Ninette de Valois quotes

Ninette de Valois was an Irish-born dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Royal Ballet in London. Her pioneering work transformed ballet in Britain and established it as a world-class art form. She is remembered as a visionary leader and one of the most influential figures in the history of dance. Here are 22 of her quotes:

And then you have the classical ballerinas, they're like sopranos. Applied to the dance. (Ninette de Valois)
Classical ballet will never die. View quote
Ninette de Valois
It's either not good enough and dies altogether, or it develops. View quote
Ninette de Valois
Exactly the same with dancing, you can't dance until you've learnt steps, the things your feet can do. View quote
Ninette de Valois
Oh yes, technique has definitely advanced. But you never advance without losing something en passant, and you lose it because you're paying so much attention to the new thing. View quote
Ninette de Valois
Also, if you have an accident, you can't start to dance again at the top, you're too weak; you start with the easy things - the way you did them when you were young, and come up up up, the way you did then. View quote
Ninette de Valois
All the children in the school should learn the steps of everything, before they learn the thing, then they know which step they're doing better, because your voice is in certain steps and has to do most of the things that have been composed in those steps. View quote
Ninette de Valois
As time goes on, all schools only get left alive if they have found something special themselves. View quote
Ninette de Valois
God gave us all exactly the same fingers, arms, legs, and feet, but in our different countries we divided them all a little differently as we feel it, do you understand? View quote
Ninette de Valois
Somebody must always be doing something new, or life would get very dull. View quote
Ninette de Valois
First of all, the most important, that is to learn everything good that has survived from other times, and carefully to watch the bad - and throw it out. (Ninette de Valois)
Nearly everything in life goes in threes and fours. View quote
Ninette de Valois
Hardly any generation wants to take the whole of the last generation, it just wants to take its best bits. View quote
Ninette de Valois
The best way to study is to go to the Cecchetti method for about a year and draw onto all the highest points and then put that into the general method. View quote
Ninette de Valois
Well, I mean, we are developing the other parts, and we can't give quite all our attention to the upper part, but soon the lower parts will be developed, and the upper part and the lower part will become partners, that will be wonderful. View quote
Ninette de Valois
You can't stop what comes into a country, you can be influenced, but you can't stop it, you shouldn't, because it makes all the others interesting, we all get muddled up together, and produce something that belongs to everyone. View quote
Ninette de Valois
There's nothing in the world that isn't good, bad, and indifferent. View quote
Ninette de Valois
There would never have been a British Ballet without Diaghilev. He had a wonderful influence. View quote
Ninette de Valois
Oh yes, after the war, and we were all starving - we had no proper food or anything - no proper shoes. View quote
Ninette de Valois
So it takes years to make a solid company. View quote
Ninette de Valois
Well it, nothing is done easily, you first have the thing, then the thing has a success, then all sorts of difficulties arise through the success. (Ninette de Valois)
No no, we ALL teach each other, whether it's dancing, whether it's singing, whether it's talking, we all listen to each other. That's progress. View quote
Ninette de Valois

Ninette de Valois

Ninette de Valois - Image
Occupation: Irish Dancer
Born: June 6, 1898
Died: March 8, 2001
Quotes count: 22