Dance partners

ROSE EICHENBAUM looks and listens with equal skill, so her new book, “Masters of Movement: Portraits of America’s Great Choreographers,” supplies insights as striking as her images. Here are interviews that set the seal on distinguished careers as well as photographs that capture the essence of an artist’s public identity. Some of the 59 people she includes aren’t really choreographers. But everyone speaks feelingly of dance, and Eichenbaum’s photos amplify the diverse opinions with a cornucopia of approaches to portraiture.

*

‘I have discovered that when I’m at my best, I am the handmaiden of the art. I’m not leading it. It’s leading me.’

Bella Lewitzky

Dancer, choreographer, company leader, teacher. Died in 2004.

*

‘Choreography is something I really have to do right now. It’s become more than just a desire.... When I’m not choreographing, I’m not happy.’

Christopher Wheeldon

Resident choreographer, New York City Ballet

*

‘I tried to create an environment [free of] other people’s wishes, opinions and desires.’

Eliot Feld

Ballet choreographer and innovator in dance education

*

‘My experience has been that the clients ... get very nervous about an artistic approach.’

Mia Michaels

Choreographer for music videos, commercials and touring rock shows

*

‘What has always driven me and continues to do so is the search for a new step. Maybe that’s innate in all artists.’

Gregory Hines

Tap dancer and mentor, film actor, showman. Died in 2003.

-- Lewis Segal