quotations about dance & dancing
I would rather dance as a ballerina, though faultily, than as a flawless clown.
MARGARET ATWOOD
Lady Oracle
Eschew the dance, lest it provoke thee to wantonness.
ST. WULFSTAN
attributed, Day's Collacon
If theater is ritual, then dance is too... It's as if the threads connecting us to the rest of the world were washed clean of preconceptions and fears. When you dance, you can enjoy the luxury of being you.
PAULO COELHO
The Witch of Portobello
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right
For dancing in the streets
GRATEFUL DEAD
"Dancing in the Street"
When some men dance they're all feet, and when they stop they're all hands.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
JAPANESE PROVERB
They would leave out the words, and fall to dancing.
The poetry of the foot takes most of late.
JOHN DRYDEN
The Rival Ladies
Many a girl who can't dance well makes up for it during intermission.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
BOB DYLAN
"Mr. Tambourine Man"
Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays.
GEORGE BALANCHINE
attributed, Quote Unquote
Somebody just gave me a shower radio. Thanks a lot. Do you really want music in the shower? I guess there's no better place to dance than a slick surface next to a glass door.
JERRY SEINFELD
Seinlanguage
Our talent for unconscious entrainment lies at the core of dance, a confluence of movement, rhythm and gestural representation. By far the most synchronized group practice, dance demands a type of interpersonal coordination in space and time that is almost nonexistent in other social contexts.
STEVEN BROWN
Scientific American, Jul. 2008
Dance is about saying something. If you ain't got nothin' to say, get off the dance floor.
LAVAUGHN ROBINSON
attributed, Hip Hop Dance: Meanings and Messages
When you do dance, I wish you
A wave o' th' sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The Winter's Tale
I wish I could shimmy like my sister Kate,
She shivers like the jelly on a plate.
ARMAND J. PIRON
"Shimmy like Kate"
To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.
JANE AUSTEN
Pride and Prejudice
You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching.
WILLIAM W. PURKEY
attributed, Poems of Life: Thoughts of Human Experiences
My dancing days are done.
BEAUMONT & FLETCHER
The Scornful Lady
No more poison
Killing my emotion
I will not be frozen
Dancing is my remedy, remedy, oh
Stop stop praying
'Cause I'm not not playing
I'm not frozen
Dancing is my remedy, remedy, oh
LITTLE BOOTS
"Remedy"
Through dancing many matrons have lost their honor, and virgins have learned things of which it would have been better had they remained ignorant.
PLUTARCH
attributed, Day's Collacon