Rahm Emanuel on Ballet

Obama's new Chief of Staff talks a little bit about ballet on Terry Gross' Fresh Air.

Terry asks what it was like it was for him in the ballet world, "which is a really different world from politics?"

Rahm laughs, "Yeah well, you gotta be fast on your feet in both. I had a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet school. I originally took it, dropped out, started up again when I was playing soccer to improve my soccer game, then dropped soccer and stayed with ballet.

"At that time it was still not kind of an accepted thing to do for men to do, but I thought it was... I still find ballet--I go regularly. I find ballet... People always say crawl, walk, run? In my view, it's always crawl, walk, run, dance.

"Not to get too esoteric, because you asked a different question, there is no culture in the world in which, at some point, both the culture or the religion that dances in the one form that you take to give an expression religiously, as a way of saying something to a higher spirit. I think it's a great embodiment of an expression and a way to use the body to give an expression of the human spirit.