Benjamin Millepied

Most dancers have no awareness of how they look; half of them think they're fat. There is anorexia in the ballet world; there are those things.

I did grow up in France, and even though I didn't go to the school or dance with the Paris Opera Ballet, I absorbed similar ideas in my training. I understand the scale of a big company. I danced for one for almost 20 years.

Directing is very close to choreography; you deal with space, time, emotions, lighting, making beautiful images.

Swan Lake' is the most difficult thing to portray for a female ballet dancer; it really requires such specific qualities of articulation, agility, strength, and the arm work is something that takes a lot of training.