Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera
Chita Riverais an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her roles in musical theatre. She is the first Hispanic woman and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009...
NationalityPuerto Rican
ProfessionStage Actress
Date of Birth23 January 1933
kids feel-good focus
It's important that the kids stay busy. It's important that they have something to focus on, and something that they feel good about.
challenges
I have always loved a challenge.
angel america san-francisco
San Francisco has just blown us all away. I also understand Angels in America didn't do well there.
boring comfortable
I'm not comfortable with just me, me, me. That's boring.
daughter blessed love-life
I have a blessed life. I really do. I have a great family, a great daughter, I love life, I love living, I love people. I love all the blessings that God's given me.
easter new-york people
We were taking collections for people with AIDS in New York around Easter.
winning winner minutes
After about 15 minutes, you feel that you're winning them over.
believe language speak
I'm bugged because I can't believe I can't speak every language there is. But I feel I can when I sit and am with somebody, and I can dance for them. Because dance is dialogue without language.
painful looking-back
Looking back doesn't have to be painful.
fun who-i-am years
For some of us, the Gypsy years can go on forever ... That isn't such a bad thing. When all is said and done, they're a lot of fun. The truth is, I liked being a Gypsy. It's who I was. And it's still a lot of who I am. Gypsy, it's a good word.
believe important culture
I do believe that separation can be a bit damaging at times. To be happy about yourself and your culture and all of that is necessary and fulfilling, but the whole tapestry is what's important.
dance mother president
Mother loved dance so much that she thought (ballerina) Margot Fonteyn should be the president.
memories single-mom film
Many of the shows I danced in don't exist on film, but they do exist in the memories of those who were in the theater for that single moment in time. And nothing can replace that.
thinking groups grew
My neighborhood was a great neighborhood; it was filled with all sorts of ethnic groups and things. So I grew up thinking I was a human being.