Dancing may be an art form.
It may grace the stages of great ballets and musical theaters around the world.
But it’s also an expression of joy and a heck of a workout.
When it comes to dance, you may not need quite as much motivation to put on your sequins and hit the floor as you would with your average workout routine, just a good jam.
But if you are lacking in motivation to get up and dance, these dance quotes should get you right back on your feet.
Inspirational Dance Quotes
These dance quotes are full of inspiration.
- Dancing is silent poetry. – Simonides
2. Dance is the hidden language of the soul. – Martha Graham
3. There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them. – Vicki Baum
4. Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! – Constanze Mozart
5. The job of feet is walking, but their hobby is dancing. – Amit Kalantri
6. To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking. – Agnes de Mille
7. Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. – Friedrich Nietzsche
8. Dancing is creating a sculpture that is visible only for a moment. – Erol Ozan
9. That’s what I love about dance. It makes you happy, fully happy. – Debbie Reynolds
10. Our biological rhythms are the symphony of the cosmos, music embedded deep within us to which we dance, even when we can’t name the tune. – Deepak Chopra
11. Dancers are the athletes of God. – Albert Einstein
12. Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance. – Oprah Winfrey
13. Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but the living room. – Kurt Vonnegut
14. Any kind of dancing is better than no dancing at all. – Lynda Barr
15. To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak. – Indian Proverb
16. You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams. And I know if I can make you smile by jumping over a couple of couches or running through a rainstorm, then I’ll be very glad to be a song and dance man. – Gene Kelly
17. Dance is the timeless interpretation of life. – Shah Asad Rizvi
18. A good dancer is not necessarily defined by great technique, skill, or ability to pick up choreography, but by confidence. When you feel the music, it penetrates to your soul. Everybody’s a dancer. The greatest dancer is someone who is willing to dance, not afraid. – Alyssa Edwards
19. We all face crossroads in our lives where we can retreat into ourselves, or we can hit the dance floor. – Sebastian Lelio
20. Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world. – Voltaire
21. How can we know the dancer from the dance? – William Butler Yeats
22. When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way. – Wayne Dyer
23. If you want to release your aggression, get up and dance. That’s what rock and roll is all about. – Chuck Berry
24. It makes no difference if you’re black or white
If you’re a boy or a girl
If the music’s pumping, it will give you new life
You’re a superstar
Yes, that’s what you are – Madonna
25. You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that fleeting moment when you feel alive. It is not for unsteady souls. – Merce Cunningham
26. Dancers come and go in the twinkling of an eye, but the dance lives on. – Michael Jackson
27. The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs. – Charles Baudelaire
28. I think Christmas is about celebration and, come on, on the inside everyone wants to dance. -TobyMac
Funny Dance Quotes
These dance quotes have some chuckles built in.
29. Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance. – Confucius
30. Don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything [Fred Astaire] did… backwards and in high heels. – Bob Thaves (from the cartoon ‘Frank and Ernest’)
31. Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire. – George Bernard Shaw
32. If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution – Emma Goldman
33. I try to dress classy and dance cheesy. – Psy
34. I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance – waiting for the bathroom. – Bob Hope
35. Find fitness with fun dancing. It is fun and makes you forget about the dreaded exercise. – Paula Abdul
36. It doesn’t matter if I’m off the beat. It doesn’t matter if I’m snapping to the rhythm. It doesn’t matter if I look like a complete goon when I dance. It is my dance. It is my moment. It is mine. And dance I will. Try and stop me. You’ll probably get kicked in the face. – Dan Pearce
37. Life is short and there will always be dirty dishes, so let’s dance. – James Howe
38. We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. – Japanese Proverb
Twyla Tharp Quotes
Twyla Tharp is a dancer and choreographer whose blending of ballet and modern dance revolutionized contemporary dance.
Her quotes:
39. If a thing moves, it lives.
40. Dancing is like bank robbery. It takes split-second timing.
41. This is the strange thing: Dancers don’t age.
42. We don’t need to illustrate music; music illustrates itself.
43. People often say to me, ‘I don’t know anything about dance.’ I say, ‘Stop. You got up this morning, and you’re walking. You are an expert.
44. Dance is just like film in that it allows for thoughts in movement.
45. I’ve always believed that a dance evening energizes an audience, that an audience goes out feeling chemically stronger and more optimistic. This is what I understand about dance. And this is an important thing. We need this. Our culture needs it.
46. Dance is the most fundamental of all art forms.
Fred Astaire Quotes
Fred Astaire was a dancer, actor, and choreographer who has been called the greatest dancer ever in film.
His quotes:
47. Dancing is a sweat job.
48. Do it big, do it right, and do it with style.
49. Slippery stages were the terror of my life.
50. People think I was born in top hat and tails.
51. I have no desire to prove anything by dancing. I have never used it as an outlet or a means of expressing myself. I just dance. I just put my feet in the air and move them around.
52. The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it’s considered to be your style.
Ginger Rogers Quotes
Ginger Rogers was a dancer, actress, and singer who was Fred Astaire’s most frequent dance partner and is considered one of the greatest stars of film.
Her quotes:
53. The kids today, they think they can dance with their faces.
54. My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her for months.
55. Rhythm is born in all of us. To be a desirable dancing partner, you don’t have to do all the intricate fancy steps that happen to be in vogue. All you have to do is be a good average dancer, and anybody who spends the time and effort can accomplish this.
56. I don’t care what the critics say. My fabulous mom will give me a good review if nobody else does.
Alvin Ailey Quotes
Alvin Ailey was a dancer, choreographer, and activist who blended classical and modern dance with the black experience in America and fostered and promoted black dancers.
His quotes:
57. Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.
58. 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.
59. Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.
60. My dancers must be able to do anything, and I don’t care if they are black or white or purple or green. I want to help show my people how beautiful they are. I want to hold up the mirror to my audience that says this is the way people can be, this is how open people can be.
61. 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.
Want more yuks with your dance content? Check out Dance Puns To Rave About.
Just getting started with dancing for fitness? Check out our beginners guide – Getting Started With Dancing (For Fitness!).
