"Do you know what it took for Balanchine……" — Arthur Mitchell

"Do you know what it took for Balanchine to put me, a black man, on stage with a white woman? This was 1957, before civil rights. He showed me how to take her [holding her delicately by the wrist]. He said, ‘put your hand on top.’ The skin colors were part of the choreography. He saw what was going to happen in the world and put it on stage."

— Arthur Mitchell

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3 Quotes by Arthur Mitchell

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More Balanchine Quotes

This quote is filed under Balanchine Quotes, one of 8 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:

I'm born originally in Toronto, and I have what I call my 'Fame' story. I took a Greyhound bus and… — Laurieann Gibson
There was a stage when Balanchine and I didn't talk. I was trying to develop my classical technique as opposed… — Gelsey Kirkland
I never studied with Balanchine, but his work was very important to me. — Twyla Tharp
Mozart, Pascal, Boolean algebra, Shakespeare, parliamentary government, baroque churches, Newton, the emancipation of women, Kant, Balanchine ballets, et al. don’t… — Susan Sontag
I think Balanchine and Robbins talk to God and when I call, he's out to lunch. — Bob Fosse
If Balanchine had any secret, it was one that has endured through two hundred years of classical ballet. It is… — Arlene Croce
Martha Graham, along with George Balanchine, is one of the two commanding figures in 20th-century American dance. For those much… — Robert Gottlieb

See all 8 Balanchine Quotes »