Ivan Nagy on partnering

By dancing with a galaxy of ballerinas, Nagy's own versatility and sensitivity are kept ever on the alert, for one Swan Queen is not like another. Partnering each ballerina is a wholly different task even if the role and probably the actual steps are the same. "Everyone hears music differently," says Ivan. "And each one phrases music completely different. I may hear a note on the violin and want to take a breath and make that the peak of the phrase, but someone else will hear another note. No two dancers are alike. It is absolutely unbelievable that the same piece of music sounds so different to each individual. Then, ballerinas can have not only different personal styles but different national styles. Margot is of the English school and she structures her performance on that style. Makarova will tell me that in Russia she held her arms here and I must place her there. And even if every step is exactly the same for two ballerinas, the way they do it is different and I must support each ballerina in her school, her personal style, and with her musical phrasing. Finally, everyone has a different body and each must think, 'What is best for me?' and so I must adapt to that. I must know from beginning to end of a ballet what they are going to do and what they expect of me. For each, I learn her way down to the last nuance and when I dance with others I mustn't forget which is which."

Great Male Dancers of the Ballet by Walter Terry. 1978. Page 146.