David Hallberg Quotations

Many dancers are content with the repertoire they're given. Others are dissatisfied but don't know why. Then there are a few like me that are curious and grab at everything. Can that curiosity thrive in the ballet world, or should it exist elsewhere? That's the eternal question.

New York at times runs me dry because there's so much to do. There's never enough time to do everything. It's nice to have the balance in Moscow.

I've always questioned the way dancers, myself included, must do the same role year in and year out. It's important for me to be able to say to myself, 'O.K., I don't want to be a prince anymore. I want to put on a leather jockstrap and pose.'

I'm not one who goes to a lot of fashion shows or tries to infiltrate that world, really.

I sew my own shoes. Other male dancers don't, but I like it one way, and I've learned to do it that way.

Because of the way I'm built, I constantly have to strengthen. This is sort of a ritual: I put on my tights first, and right when I'm about to put on my costume, I get down on the floor, and I plank.

Russians are very discerning about ballet. They're very opinionated about what classical ballet is.

Ballet needs figures that people can recognize and relate to. People don't know ballet dancers as well as they know other artists.

Ballet is incestuous. This world is smaller than small.

Ballet is certainly appreciated in New York, but it has been a part of the Russian culture, history and heritage for hundreds of years, so it's much more instilled in the Russian blood.