in a tap performance that my tap class was presenting; we are in Ithaca, New York, and I must have been around 5 because at 6 we were moved to Ibadan, Nigeria, as my dad started working with the USAID program there. I remember very well that they had a hard time getting me off the stage at the end; after the bow I stayed on rather than exit with everyone else. I think I was just stuck in space and couldn't move. The teacher had to come back onstage and escort me off.

every afternoon I made up dances and "taught" them to my dog Shadow. Shadow was a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and very loveable, and liked to prance around with me in the living room.

my torso. I like the musculature of the torso, both front and back, it looks and feels fascinating and complex.

warming up. Everyday just starting with plies and back stretches. It's always with pleasure that I start; it's a feeling of being at home. I like to listen to Terry Gross on Fresh Air while warming up. She is a constant surprise, so astute, and her guests and interests run the gamut of our contemporary lives.

everytime I'm about to begin a performance, I say to myself, "This is my contribution to world peace." Then I ask the Dalai Lama to protect me. I'm not a practicing Buddhist as such, but feel that calling upon the Dalai Lama for help and guidance is calling upon the utopian idea of world peace.

walking in to the studio, or actually really just walking anywhere. I'm an avid walker and enjoy the feeling of the air on my face and the rhythm of my step. Looking around, whether it's on the New York City street or on a country road, there's so much to see and my mind gets to wander from seeing what's in front of me. It seems to take me into a place of understanding and creativity.

my husband Roy. His understanding of the land and the ocean is very valuable to me. I so admire and rely upon his demeanor of combined gentleness and strength.

changes from day to day. Often it is not very specific and seems to come and go with my state of mind.

Haruki Murakami

his writing appears to exist outside of tenses, the past, present and future are always intertwined. I bet there's a lot to learn about that kind of overall/over-time thinking.

I'm not sure what might be overrated; that seems like a marketing idea to me, and what is interesting is always changing so perhaps it's the thing that was the last interesting thing that isn't anymore?

fulfilling, beautiful, and eye-opening, the seven dancers: Jared Brown, Lloyd Knight, Sara Mearns, Shamel Pitts, Annique Roberts, Cassie Trenary, Michael Trusnovec, our rehearsal director Becky Chaleff, our producer Ross LeClair, and me, we became a family, a sanctuary for each other. A bond was created that will last for many, many years.

the morning. I love to lie in bed and read the front page of the NYTimes on my phone. Then maybe doze a little more and then get up and have coffee.

the Biafran War. This was a civil war where the Eastern section of Nigeria (the state of Biafra, the Igbo people) wanted to secede from the rest of the nation. "Within a year, the Federal Government troops surrounded Biafra, capturing coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt. The blockade imposed led to mass starvation. During the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation". (from Wikipedia)

to trust yourself. No one is going to believe in you at first, so you have to.

the premiere performance of Bardo at the memorial for Keith Haring at St. John the Divine in 1990.

the Theme with Four Variations by Paul Hindemith commissioned by Balanchine

it's such a moving score, and I love the ballet The Four Temperaments.

New Zealand, the country of Jacinda Ardern.