I feel an obligation to use black dancers because there must be more opportunities for them, but not because I'm a black choreographer talking to black people.
Choreography is mentally draining, but there's a pleasure in getting into the studio with the dancers and the music.
I always want to have more dancers in my company.
A lot of professional dancers become professional when they turn 15 or 16 years old, when they're still children. So you've trained every single waking moment up until that point for a career that could maybe only last 10 years, maybe longer if your body holds up, if your injuries are kept at bay.
I think it would be fair to say that most female dancers have dealt with, whether it's an extreme, or minor complex in eating disorders. So the first thing I would say to girls who are feeling that way is you're not alone. You're far from alone. You're the majority. There's absolutely nothing wrong with what you're feeling.
Dancers know how to move their arms and their hands. But I don't know the first thing about how to move my arms and hands gracefully.
I've had a lot of little girls write to me saying that they want to be dancers and that I've inspired them.
All of my friends are really good dancers, which was initially why I never danced - we'd go out, and they would kill it, and I'd be like, 'Yeah, I'm just gonna sit at the bar.'
You always want to please your choreographer, director. Dancers are just that way.
The best thing about working on a movie with dancers is that we would get to have dance parties all the time!
