Rudolf Nureyev Quotes & Sayings

You live as long as you dance. — Rudolf Nureyev

I'm really alive when I'm on stage, — Rudolf Nureyev

When I miss class for one day, I know it. When I miss class for two days, my teacher knows it. When I miss class for three days, the audience knows it. — Rudolf Nureyev

I don't care if Margot is a Dame of the British Empire or older than myself. For me she represents eternal youth; there is an absolute musical quality in her beautiful body and phrasing. Because we are sincere and gifted, an intense abstract love is born between us every time we dance together. — Rudolf Nureyev

The only critic is a full house. — Rudolf Nureyev

What is art? It is not just nature, it is nurtured nature. It is intelligence applied to what physical ability you have. — Rudolf Nureyev

I approach dancing from a different angle than those who begin dancing at 8 or 9. Those who have studied from the beginning never question anything. — Rudolf Nureyev

For me, purity of movement wasn't enough. I needed expression, more intensity, more mind. — Rudolf Nureyev

We danced with one body, one soul ... For me, Margot is my family. She is all I have, only her. — Rudolf Nureyev

Technique is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration. — Rudolf Nureyev

Of course I have a personal life. — Rudolf Nureyev

I am still on stage. If you read Press ... you would believe that I should be gone. But here I am doing it and DOING IT WELL! — Rudolf Nureyev

As long as my ballets are danced, I will live — Rudolf Nureyev

There was simply from this quite early age the awareness that the only thing I wanted was to dance. — Rudolf Nureyev

My feet are dogs. — Rudolf Nureyev

The main thing is dancing, and before it withers away from my body, I will keep dancing till the last moment, the last drop. — Rudolf Nureyev

A pas de deux is a dialogue of love. How can there be conversation if one partner is dumb? — Rudolf Nureyev

I really have to dance more often, and so I travel around. If I don't, I will crumble. — Rudolf Nureyev