Young dancers are training at a very vulnerable time in their lives, through adolescence, and while they are trying to work out who they are as people, never mind as a dancer. So train the whole person, not just the dancer.

A good dancer is an educated one, so don't abandon school.

I do take class because I still dance, and yes, I do slip into class with the Royal Ballet from time to time.

At the moment I'm enjoying a new challenge at the Royal Opera House, but I'm also keen to pursue my interest in television and particularly in science.

I think the shape of our bodies has as much to do with the shape of our parents as it does with training.

Because muscle is heavier than fat, dancers weigh more than you might think, but they are usually very lean.

I have lots of interests, but it's true that dancing is a very full-time job.

It's not about weight, it's about fitness, and one component of being fit is to have relatively low body fat, because fat is not very efficient, whereas muscle is.

You increase muscle bulk by training against resistance. For example, weights. And in ballet, this isn't the case.

Young dancers are training at a very vulnerable time in their lives, through adolescence, and while they are trying to work out who they are as people, never mind as a dancer. So train the whole person, not just the dancer.

I always recommend a sensible diet, including lots of carbohydrates and avoiding too much fat. Dancers don't need different fuel from other people - they just need more of it because they use more energy.

Dancing's not always stressful, but I always make sure that I'm prepared as I can be, both physically, mentally, and practically.

But you do have to start young as a dancer if you're going to achieve the physical skills necessary.

It's not magic! It's physics. The speed of the turn is what keeps you upright. It's like a spinning top.

I get to the theatre in plenty of time; I prepare my shoes in advance; I eat and drink the right things at the right time. The rest you have to leave to luck!

As you get older, the physical abilities decrease, which is particularly frustrating because your brain gets so good! So as you are becoming less technically or physically able, younger dancers are emerging who need the space to perform.

It's another myth that dancing distorts or destroys your feet. If you have the right shaped foot to start and a good, strong technique, your feet should be fine.

I think it's useful to experience other types of dance and other cultures, and the life of a classical dancer these days is certainly not all tutus! So experience of other dance forms is a good idea.

People often argue about this. Obviously one of the skills in performance is acting, and you can't expect every Romeo to really be in love with their Juliet!

I've always believed that the facts about dancing are more interesting than the myths, and this was a great chance for me to explore how the human body does such incredible things.

Body language is a very powerful tool. We had body language before we had speech, and apparently, 80% of what you understand in a conversation is read through the body, not the words.

Dancing is a tough career, but I'm glad I spent it at the Royal Ballet.

Body language is a very powerful tool. We had body language before we had speech and apparently 80 of what you understand in a conversation is read through the body not the words.

of what you understand in a conversation is read through the body not the words.

Friendships in childhood are usually a matter of chance, whereas in adolescence they are most often a matter of choice.

Premature burial works just fine as a cure for adolescence.

Children, even infants, are capable of sympathy. But only after adolescence are we capable of compassion.

I had very few friends. We always ate dinner with our parents. We didn't want to go out. American adolescence was a lot wilder than I would have felt comfortable with.

Even as kids reach adolescence, they need more than ever for us to watch over them. Adolescence is not about letting go. It's about hanging on during a very bumpy ride.

Well, I had this little notion - I started writing when I was eleven, writing poetry. I was passionately addicted to it; it was my great refuge through adolescence.

Maturity is only a short break in adolescence.

With any child entering adolescence, one hunts for signs of health, is desperate for the smallest indication that the child's problems will never be important enough for a television movie.

Adolescence as the time when an individual 'recapitulates' the savage stage of the race's past.

Hemingway never grew out of adolescence. His scope and depth stayed shallow because he had no idea what women are for.

Criticism starts - it has to start - with a real passion for reading. It can come in adolescence, even in your twenties, but you must fall in love with poems.

Adolescence is when girls experience social pressure to put aside their authentic selves and to display only a small portion of their gifts.

The four stages of man are infancy, childhood, adolescence, and obsolescence.

Adolescence is just one big walking pimple.

I'm quite comfortable looking at myself in movies, probably because I've been doing it for so long, since I was a kid. So I sort of watched myself grow up and go through adolescence, like, basically on camera.

You don't have to suffer to be a poet; adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.

I spent much of my later childhood and adolescence very, very involved and interested in art, and particularly in animated movies.

Adolescence isn't just about prom or wearing sparkly dresses.

Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.

Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them long enough.

The conflict between the need to belong to a group and the need to be seen as unique and individual is the dominant struggle of adolescence.

Young dancers are training at a very vulnerable time in their lives, through adolescence, and while they are trying to work out who they are as people, never mind as a dancer. So train the whole person, not just the dancer.

I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence.

Adolescence is society's permission slip for combining physical maturity with psychological irresponsibility.

Adolescence represents an inner emotional upheaval, a struggle between the eternal human wish to cling to the past and the equally powerful wish to get on with the future.