Natalia Makarova Quotes & Sayings

#1. Dance involves physicality, it involves spirituality and even brains.

#2. I want to be free ... free to develop my art.

#3. The expression should come from within oneself, conveying the spiritual - something between earth and heaven. And if one runs, one should not seem to touch the ground.

Natalia Makarova

#4. It's not possible to be perfect - you can always do something better. I'm never proud of what I've done. Sometimes, I'm not ashamed.

Natalia Makarova

#5. Dancers, many dancers today can do so much technically. You can give them steps that are complicated, then more complicated, pyrotechnical - and they can execute these steps to perfection. But to do simple steps with a pure classical line, that is truly difficult.

Natalia Makarova

#6. I travel like a gypsy, and I didn't know how I could perform and be a mother.

Natalia Makarova

#7. It's a hard life ... but if I could, I would do it all again.

Natalia Makarova

#8. Many people thought I would never succeed, because I am so Russian. So Russian, hundred percent.

Natalia Makarova

#9. People tell me I'm dancing better than ever. I don't know what happened, but I have new enthusiasm and more endurance.

Natalia Makarova

#10. You cannot dance an arabesque in 'Swan Lake' and 'Nutcracker' the same way.

Natalia Makarova

#11. It is the body, subject to the harmony of the steps it is executing, which speaks. And it speaks to the heart in as direct a language as does music.

Natalia Makarova

#12. A real ballerina must fill her space with her own personality.

Natalia Makarova

#13. Because my profession is the body, it is a relaxation for me to get out of physicality and concentrate on more mental things.

Natalia Makarova

#14. Usually, English personalities are difficult; they don't take criticism easily.

Natalia Makarova

#15. To look back all the time is boring. Excitement lies in tomorrow.

Natalia Makarova

#16. I am different because I have better schooling, better understanding of the line, gesture, how feet working, positions. They taught me modern things ... and I wanted to give what I had: my schooling.

Natalia Makarova

#17. I prepare myself very intensely. I am at the theatre four hours before the performance. It allows for complete concentration and preparation.

Natalia Makarova

#18. I really feel sorry for new generation. It's hard to find backbone. I never had crisis of identity. But I think many Americans have it.

Natalia Makarova

#19. I think often that God is guiding me.

Natalia Makarova

#20. Being spontaneous, it's what saved me,

Natalia Makarova

#21. Technical things are getting more mechanical. Take 'Swan Lake,' the Black Swan pas de deux. Now, my goodness, they're turning not just 32 fouettes - but double or triple pirouettes.

Natalia Makarova