Ann Reinking
People forget that the same man who did 'Star 80' and 'All that Jazz' also did 'Pardon Me Miss But I've Never Been Kissed.'
I'm used to things not coming in the packages you expect.
Working with people who have a lot of heart is just the best. You can hire it, but you cannot teach it. It's either there or it's not.
You can always work around this, that or the other, but if everybody's in there because they love it and they just want to do it the best they can, that's an ideal situation that you don't always get.
You know, theater is either heaven or hell. There's no middle.
It's highly collaborative, musical theater, so everybody has got to somehow get along.
Every step is basically a word, especially with musical theatre, because you're not doing it for dance's sake, you're promoting a story - and, more than that, a moral. You're propelling a story.
The odd thing about Bob is that even though he's known as really taking chances and being very sensual, he was also a very moral man.
I want people to know I'm a good actress.
I had a small speaking part in 'Coco.' Katharine Hepburn said to me, 'You can act.' Wasn't that nice?
Chorus Line' opened things up a bit. Any show that's successful does that. But 'Chorus Line' was about dancers.
Show dancing stood very well on its own a long time ago with dancers like Bill Robinson and Marilyn Miller.
Bob was very influenced by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. That huge type of creativity which takes nothing and makes it into something very wrenching.
Fosse would say that it's important to trust silence. He very much liked the use of the tacit, or silent, count, where nothing is happening. He also liked percussion. His is a world of angular movement and mystery, quiet, semi-taciturn and percussive.
I learn from teaching. Having to break things down and explain them makes me a better dancer.
I think of myself, basically, as a very practical person in black bugle beads.
I was up for parts in 'Charlie's Angels' and 'Three's Company,' but other people got them. At the time I was very disappointed because I knew the shows would be tremendous hits. But if I had done either I would not have done the following: 'Chorus Line,' 'Dancin',' 'Chicago,' 'Movie Movie,' 'All That Jazz' and 'Annie.'
People always remark on how I'm not as tall as I look in film. I tell them about the time I saw Lassie on a studio lot, and she was this tiny scruffy dog. Film makes you larger than life.
I like to stretch myself, and playing a dance-hall hostess is quite a stretch, but I feel comfortable with it.
I teach jazz dancing and I can be a guest teacher whenever I want.
One of the reasons I like to teach is that I like to pass things on. That's an unspoken law of show business.
When you get too much, too quickly, too easily, you don't learn to fight.
The guest artists pass on not only their experiences but also the pitfalls.
Bob was fascinating to watch. It was like being a student of Albert Einstein. This guy was really brilliant, and I got to watch and experience it.
'Dancin' was exceptionally significant. I was in an original Broadway show and nominated for a Tony.
I loved 'Cabaret.' I loved what it had to say and the whole style and brilliance of the book. It was my first time performing Fred Ebb and John Kander's work. They took risks. Even when their shows are fun and funny, they are about very serious issues.
When I did 'Goodtime Charley' that helped a great deal, but 'Dancin' was such a huge hit. It catapulted me in to being a consistent principal to count on.
For theater I am like a long-distance runner. For movies I am a sprinter! Same playing field, different approach.
I enjoy YouTube like everyone else.
I would not correct dancers if I was performing, because I don't believe in performers correcting other performers.
I put all my energy and thoughtful commitment to everything that I do. There is no other way!
Often when you have less to work with, you do more.
The whole gist of 'All That Jazz' is Faustian. It's about a man who sells his soul to show business - which Bob didn't do. He understood the dangers of glamour and falling into that kind of life.
I love doing concert choreography because everything is about your vision, come heck or high water. Of course, you also take the blame for everything, but it's wonderful to be able to make up dance for dance's sake.
I tend to be loyal to the people who have been loyal to me.
For 'Chicago,' the dancers need to demonstrate an affinity for the Fosse style. Sometimes dancers come in with brilliant technique, but if the Fosse style isn't easy for them, or it's awkward for them, they won't be right for this show.
I'd announced when I was 13 that I wanted to go to New York instead of college - that was quite a disaster, but it gave my parents plenty of time to get conditioned that after finishing school I really was determined.
I like meeting people from other walks of life and finding out about other worlds, and knowing that I'm fairly adept at one world and really stupid in many others.
Broadway is so defeating for the most part that it doesn't encourage people to be as tenacious as they should be.
I'm happiest with my family and with working.
I came to New York with $500. That was a lot of money because my allowance was 50 cents.
I remember telling my dad, 'I'm working 14- to 16-hour days and I don't care. I can't wait to get back to work.'
Students ask me what is the best advice you could give me? And I say, 'Your mother's right.'
I always had my feet in two places when I was doing amateur dance in Seattle.
I would love to be proud of my life, to look back and say, I did a good job, that I strive for quality.
You can't stand still in one spot, no matter how good it is. You have to do something new, keep trying. That's everything.
I think if you push to get to know somebody, it's not a natural evolution.
People think I'm accident-prone when they see me on crutches, but I do eight shows a week.
Acting, like wine, gets better as time goes on. Singing gets better after a certain age. The dancer peaks at 35 or 40.