Cyd Charisse

Everybody can learn to dance. If they can walk, they can dance.

To make a man happy, treat him like a dog - plenty of affection and a loose leash.

I was christened Tula Ellice Finklea.

I joined the Ballets Russes when I was 14, and my name was changed twice. I was known as Marie Istomina, then as Felia Siderova. When I went to Hollywood and made my first movie, 'Mission to Moscow,' in 1943, I became Lily Norwood.

All I ever wanted to do was dance.

I was born in Amarillo. And my brother, who was a year older than I, had trouble saying the word 'Sister,' it came out 'Sid.' So I was called Sid.

Once you have your appetite well under control, start to acquire your dream figure with exercise.

There is no point working off pounds with exercise, if you are going to eat them back on again.

You can't have bad eating habits without paying for them.

It really isn't important how you get your exercise, but it does matter that you keep it up. If you let go, you'll find it very hard to get started again.

You never realize that good things are going to be over some day.

There was a technique to making a musical. It took a long time for the studios to learn it, and it was very complicated.

He was a wonderful gentleman, elegant, with great humility. All the wonderful things you can say about a person, you have to say about Fred Astaire.

Fred Astaire was special, and such a marvelous human being.

I think that in all my dancing I play a role,' she told The Times that year. 'To me, that's what dancing is about. It's not just steps.

The censors were always there when I was on the set.

If I have any strength as a dancer, I got it all from Nijinska. Her barre was tough, and there were very difficult combinations.

Tap was against everything I had learned to do. I was pulled up as a ballet dancer, and I wasn't used to pounding the floor with bent knees.

The music changed. We had Irving Berlin and Gershwin and Lerner and Loewe and Cole Porter. Great music. Now we have 'Rent.'

I'm not a luncheon personality so I skip it.