"You're never too old to develop some new aspect of yourself." — Paula Kelly

I decided I wanted to be a dancer. Juilliard was in walking distance from home, so I very stupidly went and applied, not realizing the money it would cost which my parents didn't have. It took a hundred dollars just to apply for a scholarship. But I made it.

By the time I started to study, it was a conscious decision. It wasn't just something my mother wanted for me, as it is with most of those little girls. So I really worked at dancing - from 8 A. M. to 10 P. M. every day - and I loved it.

Parts are becoming interchangeable, so that it doesn't matter what color a person is. And that's what it's all about, right?

I was in my last year in high school when I began to think of becoming a dancer. I had never seen a Broadway show; we never even read the theatrical reviews.

My main objective is to introduce students to dance and the other arts, not necessarily for them to pursue, but as a method of discipline. When they learn to apply themselves freely they can learn to enjoy themselves and apply that tool of discipline to other interests.

I'm not interested in being a really big star. I want to be in control of my life. I don't want to worry about the rent.

I didn't have the opportunity to study dance until I was old. I was 17.

With a camera right in my face, my movements would have to be more subtle; stage techniques would have to be left behind and that would be hard. So many things kept whizzing through my mind, yet I never doubted once that I could do it.

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You're never too old to develop some new aspect of yourself.