Ballet is quite unnatural on the joints. My body is just worn. My joints are 10 years older than me. — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
I joined the Royal Ballet School when I was 13. Before then, I'd done ballet twice a week after school. The rest… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
For every dancer, no matter how amazing your career, there's more to life than ballet. Being adored by your audience, it's only… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
I always knew I was a bit different from my friends, had too much energy, and suddenly I could get it all… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
I did ballet from the age of five, but what I loved was my gymnastics. I kept the ballet going because of… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
You have to be able to cut off from the ballet and relax, or you have anxiety dreams at night, worrying about… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
Ballet requires movements which are very unnatural. With every step, you do a circular movement of the hip. You turn out from… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
My mum sent me to ballet from the age of five, not because I was that into it but because I had… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
Classical ballet is very extreme. You're doing it six days a week, and it's a kind of obsession of perfecting a move.… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
Ballet is a healthy world despite what people might think. There's a perception that ballet dancers are skinny and unhealthy, but that's… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
Before a show, I usually give myself two-and-a-half hours to get ready. I prepare my shoes first. New ballet pumps can sound… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
As a little girl, I didn't dream of being a ballet dancer; I dreamt of being a movie star like Ginger Rogers… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
Fonteyn was our first proper British ballerina, and from the moment I started dancing, her image engulfed me. In my first year… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
I loved gymnastics, and my gymnastics teacher said ballet was essential to help my dance routines in competitions. I only really went… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
It's very easy to become selfish and narrow-minded and see ballet as the only thing in life, but there's lots more. — Darcey Bussell Copy Share Image
Being a full-time mother is one of the biggest jobs in the world; it's like another career for me. I love every moment of… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
We always want what we don't have, and I'd like a long, sophisticated nose rather than a short, turned-up one. — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
I used to wear long jumpers, but they made me look like a bag tied up in the middle. — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
Dancers are working their bodies just like a marathon runner would, and you have to eat to make it through a three-hour performance. Dancers… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
The best thing is to lie in a warm Epsom salts bath for 15 minutes and then go straight to bed. You will sleep… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
I wanted to inspire every little girl who wants to be a dancer to fire their imagination about the joys of being on the… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
Now I'm on television, I'm far more conscious of my skin than I used to be - I would often leave the theatre with… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
The orthopaedic surgeon said that if ever I had hip or groin pain, I should rest until the pain went. However, resting is not… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
If I start something, I have to finish it. I know that's annoying - it drives my husband mad - but even if something's… — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
I wore myself out physically and mentally over my career, and I couldn't be there for my daughters in ways I should have been. — Darcey Bussell Copy Share
