I may be rancid butter, but I'm on your side of the bread.

I may be rancid butter, but I'm on your side of the bread.

Gene Kelly

If I played a tough kid on the street I couldn't go out there and get into fifth position. I had to dance like a tough kid on the street.

If I played a tough kid on the street I couldn't go out there and get into fifth position. I had to dance like a tough kid on the street.

There's nothing revolutionary about Saturday Night Fever . You can see the same kind of movement at your local disco.

There's nothing revolutionary about Saturday Night Fever . You can see the same kind of movement at your local disco.

When they do let them sustain on screen from head to toe, though, then you know they must think the person is a good dancer.

When they do let them sustain on screen from head to toe, though, then you know they must think the person is a good dancer.

America now has more and better dancers than they have ever had in the history of the country, but that won't account for the public wants to see.

America now has more and better dancers than they have ever had in the history of the country, but that won't account for the public wants to see.

I didn't want to be a dancer... I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.

I didn't want to be a dancer... I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.

My mother had gotten a job as a receptionist at a dancing school and had the idea that we should open our own dancing school; we did, and it prospered.

My mother had gotten a job as a receptionist at a dancing school and had the idea that we should open our own dancing school; we did, and it prospered.

I arrived in Hollywood twenty pounds overweight and as strong as an ox. But if I put on a white tails and tux like Fred Astaire, I still looked like a truck driver.

I arrived in Hollywood twenty pounds overweight and as strong as an ox. But if I put on a white tails and tux like Fred Astaire, I still looked like a truck driver.

Things danced on the screen do not look the way they do on the stage. On the stage, dancing is three-dimensional, but a motion picture is two-dimensional.

Things danced on the screen do not look the way they do on the stage. On the stage, dancing is three-dimensional, but a motion picture is two-dimensional.

I think dancing is a man's game and if he does it well he does it better than a woman.

I think dancing is a man's game and if he does it well he does it better than a woman.

I wanted to do new things with dance, adapt it to the motion picture medium.

I wanted to do new things with dance, adapt it to the motion picture medium.

When Ginger Rogers danced with Astaire, it was the only time in the movies when you looked at the man, not the woman.

When Ginger Rogers danced with Astaire, it was the only time in the movies when you looked at the man, not the woman.

I still find it almost impossible to relax for more than one day at a time.

I still find it almost impossible to relax for more than one day at a time.

The future of dance will always be tied up with the public's acceptance of the star. If they accept the star, then they'll accept the dance.

The future of dance will always be tied up with the public's acceptance of the star. If they accept the star, then they'll accept the dance.

I never wanted to be a dancer. It's true! I wanted to be a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I never wanted to be a dancer. It's true! I wanted to be a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I took it as it came and it happened to be very nice.

I took it as it came and it happened to be very nice.

Fred Astaire represented the aristocracy, I represented the proletariat.

Fred Astaire represented the aristocracy, I represented the proletariat.

Come on with the rain / I’ve a smile on my face.

Come on with the rain / I’ve a smile on my face.

If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando.

If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando.