25 Quotes by Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer who played a crucial role in shaping the world of modern dance. She was known for her innovative use of storytelling in dance, as well as her ability to blend classical ballet with folk dance and other forms of movement. Her choreography for the ballet “Rodeo” and the musical “Oklahoma!” are still performed today, and her influence on the world of dance can be seen in the work of many contemporary choreographers. (Bio)
Agnes de Mille Quotes
No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently.
To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.
Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark. (Meaning)
The truest expression of a people is in its dances and its music. Bodies never lie.
Then I did the simplest thing in the world. I leaned down… and kissed him. And the world cracked open.
A good education is usually harmful to a dancer. A good calf is better than a good head.
Who am I?, the artist asks. And he devotes his whole life to finding out.
Many other women have kicked higher, balanced longer, or turned faster. These are poor substitutes for passion.
Dancers aren’t made of their technique, but their passion.
The creative urge is the demon that will not accept anything second rate. (Meaning)
If you want to understand a nation, look at its dances and listen to its folk songs – don’t pay any attention to its politicians.
We can’t stand silence, because silence induces thinking. And if we thought, we would have to face ourselves.
Dancing is such a despised and dishonored trade that if you tell a doctor or a laywer you do choreography he’ll look at you as if you were a hummingbird. Dancers don’t get invited to visit people. It is assumed a boy dancer will run off with the spoons and a girl with the head of the house.
Ballet technique never becomes easy, it becomes possible
Modern dancers give a sinister portent about our times.
Living is a form of not being sure, not know what next or how… The artists never entirely knows.
Toe dancing is a dandy attention getter, second only to screaming.
Dance constitutes a true recapturing of… freedom and childish play.
I want one word on my tombstone – dancer.
Dance in the body you have.
No white man uses his feet the way an Indian does. He talks to the earth.
There is something fearfully strengthening about cutting free even if the ties bandage the heart itself.
My heroines are part of me and my heroes are part of what I’d like to know.
Friends die one by one, but so, thank God, do enemies.
I studied the way I danced- to the point of dropping.
― Agnes de Mille Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an impact-driven creator at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 life goals around the globe. Tal's journey and recent book, The Art of Fully Living, inspired him to found Elevate Society.
