We still spend more time chasing funds than we do in the studio in creative work. — Alvin Ailey

Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments. — Alvin Ailey

But the dance speaks to everyone. Otherwise it wouldn’t work. — Alvin Ailey

My lasting impression of Truman Capote is that he was a terribly gentle, terribly sensitive, and terribly sad man. — Alvin Ailey

It will take very sophisticated marketing to achieve our aim of bringing more black people into the theater. — Alvin Ailey

I always want to have more dancers in my company. — Alvin Ailey

One of the worst things about racism is what it does to young people. — Alvin Ailey

I always want more. — Alvin Ailey

Money is a never–ending problem. — Alvin Ailey

I’m attracted to long–legged girls with long arms and a little head. — Alvin Ailey

Making dances is an act of progress; it is an act of growth, an act of music, an act of teaching, an act of celebration, an act of joy. — Alvin Ailey

We talk too much of black art when we should be talking about art, just art. Black composers must be free to write rondos and fugues, not only protest songs. — Alvin Ailey

Choreography is mentally draining, but there’s a pleasure in getting into the studio with the dancers and the music. — Alvin Ailey

Lena Horne is the sweetest and most adorable woman in the world. — Alvin Ailey

Sometimes you feel bad about yourself when there’s no reason to. — Alvin Ailey

My feelings about myself have been terrible. — Alvin Ailey

If you live in the elite world of dance, you find yourself in a world rife with racism. Let’s face it. — Alvin Ailey

Its roots are in American Negro culture, which is part of the whole country’s heritage, but the dance speaks to everyone… Otherwise, it wouldn’t work. — Alvin Ailey

Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people. — Alvin Ailey

I am trying to show the world that we are all human beings and that color is not important. What is important is the quality of our work. — Alvin Ailey

The creative process is not controlled by a switch you can simply turn on or off; it’s with you all the time. — Alvin Ailey

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. — Alvin Ailey

I’m interested in putting something on stage that will have a very wide appeal without being condescending; that will reach an audience and make it part of the dance; that will get everybody in the theater. — Alvin Ailey

Racism tears down your insides so that no matter what you achieve, you’re not quite up to snuff. — Alvin Ailey

I wanted to explore black culture, and I wanted that culture to be a revelation. — Alvin Ailey

To be who you are and become what you are capable of is the only goal worth living. — Alvin Ailey

No matter what you write or choreograph, you feel it is not enough. — Alvin Ailey

Nothing personal; I just don’t have people over. — Alvin Ailey