Chita Rivera Quotations

My hairdresser and I found ourselves shopping at Bloomingdale's with nothing to do for days.

We're going to Puerto Rico, where we're gonna close. And we're so excited, we can't see straight.

Southern California, they have been amazing. They're totally with us.

You take a plug and put it in a socket, and that's what the theatre is-it lights up right away. You speak, and they respond immediately.

It's communication - that's what theatre is all about.

After about 15 minutes, you feel that you're winning them over.

I'm not comfortable with just me, me, me. That's boring.

I can tell you where my Tonys are. They're in a beautiful place in my living room, in a glass cabinet.

I was busy welcoming a new experience. I had never done a movie before.

I've played American, Italian, Greek, French. I've been really lucky that way.

I have to make this love affair believable enough. It's very European.

San Francisco has just blown us all away. I also understand Angels in America didn't do well there.

I have been very lucky, I have only had one bad experience.

I'd like to get the word out there, the word has to be spread.

Somebody told me once I wasn't Latin enough, and that made me laugh

The show did go on, but came very close to not going on at all.

You can feel whether an audience is tightened up and pulled back. Of course the opposite is an audience like we've been having in LA, which is fabulous.

I never like the way I look. I don't. I never look at myself.

It's important that the kids stay busy. It's important that they have something to focus on, and something that they feel good about.

I really never felt any tremendous aggravation or separation.

I have always loved a challenge.

I love life. I love the live theater.

I love to laugh, I love the joy of life, and I love sharing it.

I love the theater because the theater is alive. The audience is right there.

I never feel as though I'm ever, ever alone.

A lot of Americans like happy endings, but life does not necessarily have a happy ending.

American audiences are affected by what the English people think.

You know I've got a generator that's still popping.

Beauty is not everything!

I have a blessed life. I really do. I have a great family, a great daughter, I love life, I love living, I love people. I love all the blessings that God's given me.

The spirit of dance is an amazing thing. When the body and the spirit meet, it's a good thing.

We were taking collections for people with AIDS in New York around Easter.

I'm bugged because I can't believe I can't speak every language there is. But I feel I can when I sit and am with somebody, and I can dance for them. Because dance is dialogue without language.

Looking back doesn't have to be painful.

For some of us, the Gypsy years can go on forever ... That isn't such a bad thing. When all is said and done, they're a lot of fun. The truth is, I liked being a Gypsy. It's who I was. And it's still a lot of who I am. Gypsy, it's a good word.

I do believe that separation can be a bit damaging at times. To be happy about yourself and your culture and all of that is necessary and fulfilling, but the whole tapestry is what's important.

Mother loved dance so much that she thought (ballerina) Margot Fonteyn should be the president.

Many of the shows I danced in don't exist on film, but they do exist in the memories of those who were in the theater for that single moment in time. And nothing can replace that.

My neighborhood was a great neighborhood; it was filled with all sorts of ethnic groups and things. So I grew up thinking I was a human being.

Theatre is immediate gratification

I am young in my energy because I really still believe that we can share who we are, and we can wipe off on each other. I see this huge tapestry when we're born, and this red blob that's your soul or your heart.

I don't know what Texas is all about. We kinda make jokes about it, like being run out of town. But we're brave enough to face it.

I looked out and saw all these Rudolph red noses and people crying. It's like what Lisa went through today. I saw it all over her face when I mentioned her father and all that.

I give credit for that to all my teachers and all my choreographers, but also to myself for listening to them.

I wasn't looking for work: I was a ballerina,

You knew the dance numbers, and you knew that Fosse was gonna put it together, so you had to start at that level of energy again.

is the sum total of all the choreographers who have trained me.

I'm very grateful that so many people are not sick any longer... I'm so grateful not to be going to so many funerals, and losing my friends.

For some of us, the Gypsy years can go on forever, ... That isn't such a bad thing. When all is said and done, they're a lot of fun. The truth is, I liked being a Gypsy. It's who I was. And it's still a lot of who I am. Gypsy, it's a good word.