My family traveled with a whole community to European festivals. My mum did gymnastics, freak show performances, and swung fire in the circus, so I followed her footsteps.
I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and was a very competitive (and stressed out!) gymnast before getting into entertainment, but it was never the actual gymnastics that was my true love. I loved the performing aspect of it all.
Gymnastics is the type of sport where you can't take something that gives you more energy. Something may be great for the vault, but then you have the bars after it and you have to be more sedate for that.
I feel there are tone singers, and there are more vocal gymnastics singers. And I think that's amazing when people can do that, but I think there's room for the tone singers. And there aren't a lot of them.
I think I started toddler gymnastics when I was around 3 or 4, and I began taking it seriously when I was 6.
Tango is about feeling and sensitivity, otherwise you are just doing gymnastics. You can do all the steps but it has to have the feeling and sensitivity of authentic tango.
Years ago I sang on a track using that voice and someone asked, 'Who is that terribly depressed man'. . . But Patrick loved it. He said, 'You sound like a young boy, like a child, like an old woman, like an old man,' and really, we all have all of those things inside of us. I don't do any vocal gymnastics to make the voice better as I age. If it comes out rougher, then it's true to what's happening. Singing is who I am. I didn't train for it, any more than I trained for anything else I did. I probably should take better care of myself physically, but it goes against the grain.
There is always going to be a reason why you can't do something; your job is to constantly look for the reasons why you can achieve your dreams.
Mentally there's no question about whether I still like the sport and love doing it. I think it's pretty clear to everyone here that I love the sport. I love doing gymnastics and I love performing. So that's not really a question.
A comeback in gymnastics is almost impossible in itself.
There's so much denial in gymnastics. It's a beautiful sport but the other part is numbing. You become machinelike. They'll refute this, but I've been around it. I know.
I just want to continue with gymnastics because I'm still young and fresh. I think can get some more titles under my belt.
I'm able to support my wife and family off of gymnastics. But at the same time I do take it very seriously - it is a job for me.
I can put my legs behind my head and sing 'Happy Birthday. ' Because that's something that me and my friends used to do when we were in gymnastics class as kids, and I can still do it. I was doing it since I was 8 and 9. They used to call me Gumby. Very bendy.
There is always tension in women's gymnastics between athleticism, grace, performance, and eros.
People only see gymnastics on TV and in the Olympics at such an extreme. So it can be intimidating.
There is no greatness without taking risks.
As far as technique and virtuosity are concerned, I think I am better than Bilozerchev.
Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing.
After thorough reflection, I realized that my desire to achieve my goals in this sport outweighed my self-doubt. This perseverance has helped me to be successful not only in gymnastics, but in my non-athletic life as well.