I had a wonderful childhood, coming from Cincinnati, and I think that it was great going into the life that I was going to have, where you have to start young as a dancer. – Suzanne Farrell
It’s ungrateful to be wishing you were doing something else at the moment you are living. You haven’t lived in the moment that you are really living, you are wishing you were somewhere else. – Suzanne Farrell
When you get on stage, you can be anything. You are removed from reality in a way, the real world. – Suzanne Farrell
The particular ballet was not so important as the fact that I was physically healthy, and capable of getting out there and dancing as often as possible. – Suzanne Farrell
Once I started dancing, I was not the spoiled brat or the rebellious child that I was as a child. – Suzanne Farrell
But what was my motivation was music, and the fact that I love to move around. I’m always moving around. – Suzanne Farrell
I had two sisters, and we would love to get dressed up and pretend that we were chic, sophisticated ladies. And I think that was a great sort of preparation, in a way. – Suzanne Farrell
That the work involved, the willingness to take chances, the commitment, the opportunity to get on stage and make people happy, was more important than becoming famous, or even what I was dancing. – Suzanne Farrell
And I just thought, this is what I want to be. And I knew that dancing would be my chosen profession. – Suzanne Farrell
On the other hand, I think it is wonderful for everyone to take ballet classes, at any age. It gives you a discipline, it gives you a place to go. It gives you some control in your life. – Suzanne Farrell
When you are on stage, you don’t see faces. The lights are in your eyes and you see just this black void out in front of you. And yet you know there is life out there, and you have to get your message across. – Suzanne Farrell
I didn’t care too much for ballet, because you had to be more disciplined, and you sort of looked like everyone else. It required a certain kind of conformity that I didn’t feel like I wanted to do. – Suzanne Farrell
I think especially in a world where you have so little say about what goes on in your life, or in the politics of the world around you, it is wonderful to go into that studio, and tell yourself what to do. – Suzanne Farrell
I liked Latin, I like languages, I liked all the myths, and the Roman tales that we were required to translate in Latin, and all these interesting people who were never quite what they thought they would be or seemed to be. – Suzanne Farrell
I used to love to play dress-up, where you get your mother’s or your grandmother’s dresses and high heels. – Suzanne Farrell
