""The dancers have been, and continue to be, the life of my work. It is to them that I am most indebted, for their dedication and energies and willingness under favorable or trying conditions, to work at something which was for long outside the experience of most people, whether players or public, and to be able to face indifferent or even hostile audiences with equanimity. I hope they will agree, despite the unfamiliarity of the work, we have tried to hold a standard that for me is the balance of the tightrope. One side is to have the clarity, the strength, the virtuosity of movement and its demands of the body, like flexible steel. The other side is the abandon, if I may use the word, that allows you to be human. It is a wonderful performance koan." - Merce Cunningham.