Twyla Tharp

He is our hero.

Plus which, he was gorgeous.

He's unquestionably, in my opinion, in that era, the possessor of a technique that was a culmination of the 20th century and that will never be matched.

And to see him work at the bar or to see him in the absolute interior realm of what the classical ballet was, was an unbelievable privilege.

But not many people saw that.

Not many people saw him at the bar, which is where you build your chops, okay?

He also was capable of taking those chops and expanding on them, breaking through their boundaries, trying it this way, do it that way, but utilizing the power that he had from that simple classical base to take it outwards.

Lots of inventiveness in that regard.

And the guy was gorgeous.

What can I tell you?

And what does that mean?

But what does that mean?

It means a wide-ranging interest that you feel includes you as you, the spectator.

You feel he's including you.

in his wideness of vision.

Where does that come from?

From the intellect, from his musicality, from his training, from his personality, from his cultural breeding, Latvian.

And it is a singular commodification, one of my favorite words that drives people up the walls when I use that word in relation to the arts of performing.

But he was very, very...

Very astute in many different areas, starting from an athletic ability through to a poetic sensibility.