40 Famous Quotes About Dancing to Inspire Your Next Moves (2024)

Famous quotes about dancing are spoken by famous individuals from all walks of life. Consider each quote in the context of dance itself but also on a deeper level, and you may begin to understand why dance is considered such a major source of inspiration for those who study or perform it.

• "I wasn't just going to walk, I was going to run. And then, once I stopped running, I was going to dance." - Robert Battle
• “The dance goes on forever. So shall I. So shall we.” - Gelsey Kirkland
• “I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.” - Mikhail Baryshnikov
• "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." - Vivian Greene
• "And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance / I hope you dance" - I Hope You Dance, Lee Ann Womack
• "Take your passion / And make it happen / Pictures come alive / You can dance right through your life" - What a Feeling, Irene Cara
• “Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
• “This world we live in is the dance of the creator. Dancers come and go in the twinkling of an eye but the dance lives on.” - Michael Jackson
• “Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance.” - Oprah Winfrey
• "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

Looking for a cute dance quote or saying from a well-known source? These quotes about dance are as cute and lighthearted as they are true.

• "I can do anything when I am in a tutu.” - Misty Copeland
• “After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.” - Ann Richards
• "I’m just an old Broadway gypsy." - Bob Avian
• “Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane.” - H. P. Lovecraft
• "If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance." - George Bernard Shaw
• Life's a dance you learn as you go, Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow” - Life’s a Dance, John Michael Montgomery
• "If people stand in a circle long enough, they'll eventually begin to dance." - George Carlin
• "I'm going to tap until I can't." - Gregory Hines
• "We're gonna boogie oogie oogie / 'Til you just can't boogie no more." - Boogie Oogie Ooogie, A Taste of Honey
• "You do the hokey pokey / And you turn yourself around / That's what it's all about" - The Hokey Pokey, Larry LaPrise

Dance is often described in poetry and motion. These quotes help express one's appreciation of dance in prose form.

• "I am a person who knows how the arts can change lives, because they transformed mine. I was a dancer.” - Jacques d'Amboise
• "I didn't even know dancing was a profession. I just had to do it." - David Hallberg
• "Dancing is poetry with arms and legs." - Charles Baudelaire
• "You can dance / you can jive / having the time of your life!” - Dancing Queen, ABBA
• "Part of the joy of dancing is conversation. Trouble is, some men can't talk and dance at the same time." - Ginger Rogers
• "The Dance is a poem of which each movement is a word." - Mata Hari
• "Dance is like life. It exists as you're flitting through it, and when it's over, it's done." - Jerome Robbins
• "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
• “Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusem*nts will never do any harm to the world.” - Voltaire
• “When you do dance, I wish you / A wave o' th' sea, that you might ever do, / Nothing but that ...” - A Winter’s Tale, William Shakespeare

Quotes about dancing don't have to be long to be meaningful. The brief quotes below max out at 12 words; some are even shorter.

• "See the music, hear the dance." - George Balanchine
• "I dance but I’m not a dancer." - Clare Danes
• "I love dance, it’s my first love." - Jennifer Lopez
• "It’s those small moments on stage that are really special." - Jillian Vanstone
• "Everybody cut Footloose." - Footloose, Kenny Loggins
• "Forget your troubles and dance!" - Them Belly Full (but We Hungry ), Bob Marley
• “Dance is the hidden language of the soul.” - Martha Graham
• “You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams.” - Gene Kelly
• "Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances." - Maya Angelou
• "Dance without fear." - "Short Dance," Maryann Valleys