Justin Peck Quotes

Justin Peck

Profession : Dancer

Birth : September 8, 1987

The ballet world, it's a crazy world.

Justin Peck

The future of ballet is really in the hands of the creators, so if it's something that interests them to push the envelope with gender roles, then I think it will change. But if that's not of interest to a dance-maker, if their interest is to sort of preserve the way things have been done for the past 200 years, then nothing is going to change.

Justin Peck

When I'm in sneakers, it changes my body carriage. I feel more in my own skin.

Justin Peck

I love seeing New York City Ballet from the fourth ring, just seeing the architecture of how these bodies move from above.

Justin Peck

American ballet... is ultimately an evolutionary art form, requiring many voices to creatively carry forward.

Justin Peck

I really enjoyed watching a ballerina named Denise Dabrowski who used to dance at California Ballet. She was a beautiful ballerina and role model for a lot of young dancers.

Justin Peck

I always feel that the mark of a good ballet is that when you see it more than once, you get more out of it.

Justin Peck

I'm always interested in linking dance to mundane behavior that everyone can relate to.

Justin Peck

To me, dance and ballet are not so accessible.

Justin Peck

It's probably what I'm most interested in as a choreographer: how I can alter and shift and develop the structure of a piece and of the space.

Justin Peck

It's time for there to be roles in the ballet where two men can fall in love, and a woman can lead a company of 20 dancers that include both men and women.

Justin Peck

There is a clearing for new creative thought in choreography. I don't feel intimidated; there is a lot I can do that is new or innovative or different.

Justin Peck

I'm trying to create ballets that I would enjoy seeing.

Justin Peck

My choreography is very classically based.

Justin Peck

I like graceful and elegant partnering that gives an illusion of ease instead of emphasizing difficulty. I don't want to make something 'contemporary' or 'trendy,' because ballet doesn't progress on one track: it can branch out in many directions, and as Balanchine showed, there's always room for pure classicism and more subtle alterations of it.

Justin Peck

Ballet dancers are among the greatest living athletes.

Justin Peck

Chicago is amazing.

Justin Peck

It's nice to have the support and infrastructure to do what I want creatively. That's kind of a rare thing to find.

Justin Peck

Pressure feels sort of normal to me.

Justin Peck

George Balanchine is my role model because his work is so varied. You can see two ballets of his and not even realize that they are by the same choreographer.

Justin Peck