Early on, she preferred tap to ballet as "she liked to hear her own movements" and disliked the values of conformity and exact technique that were necessary in ballet.
"He [George Balanchine] had worked with dancers whose legs were thinner
and went higher and could turn and jump better. I didn't think I excelled in anything at that time. I even asked him, 'What do you see in me?' I thought everyone looked better than I did. He said, 'You moved different; I like the way you move'".
