“It’s hard not to get too hurt in this profession.”

Ann Reinking got real earlier this month at New York City Dance Alliance Foundation’s Bright Lights Shining Stars gala. She was being honored as a 2017 NYCDA Foundation Ambassador for the Arts, and her speech was so moving that we had to share the entire thing with you.

Our favorite part?

“It is as Bob [Fosse] said: Our profession is as important as saving a human life. Because for two hours we get the privilege of taking someone’s mind off their problems, of making them laugh, making them cry, if that’s what the story is about. But to flush their emotion through their own inner spirit so that they can go out and face the world again and solve yet another problem.”

Enjoy!