Chita Rivera.

Broadway legend Chita Rivera is such a vortex of energy onstage that it's hard to look away when she is dancing, singing, or just standing there. Her biographical musical, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, which ran for 72 performances on Broadway last year, takes the audience on her journey from aspiring ballerina to Broadway diva. The show, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, hit the road in December for a national tour. Wendy Perron chatted with her in January.

You're performing up to 15 shows a week. How do you keep your energy up?

Prayer! I've got a lot of energy anyhow. I'm stimulated by what I do and the people I work with. I'm also in good shape, and I eat the right stuff.

I love the family scene where you're dancing on the table as a child. Has your family seen the show, and what's their reaction?

Oh you can bet they've come to see the show. Well, they cry a lot--especially my older brother Julio and my sister Lola. Armando does not cry, and Carmine, my darling older sister, just smiles through everything.

You talk about choreographers we rarely hear about, like Jack Cole, Michael Kidd, and Peter Gennaro, in addition to Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse. What is the reaction when you talk about your mentors?

A lot of students come to the shows. You hear the applause the minute you mention the choreographers. Sometimes we talk to the kids after the show, and then they get to know more about these brilliant choreographers.

You mention in the musical about your leg and a car accident. Tell me about that.

There are 16 pins in my leg. They're beautifully put in there. I don't feel those screws at all. When you're atrophied, you can either stay atrophied for the rest of your life, or even 15 years later you can get some feeling where you didn't have it before. But I just said to my daughter this morning, "You know the back of my ankle, and the back of my calf, I can feel something I've never felt before."

Have you had any mishaps during the show?

We were having the show signed for the deaf and it's beautiful to watch. But I need to be really careful to not be distracted. The signer did something different that caught my eye--and I went up [forgot a line]. I've been lucky and I never go up. I went up, and I had to ask the prompter, "What is it?"

Do you have advice for younger dancers?

Success is not going to happen on TV overnight. You really have to keep studying and take care of yourself. Your ballet training is the most important training to have a good foundation for any kind of dancing. And be curious about different styles, so that you become a well-rounded dancer.

What if a dancer wants to be like you, a triple threat?

I never said I wanted to be a triple threat. I just auditioned for shows and they hired me and they asked me if I could sing and I didn't say no. You just go ahead and you do it. Nowadays, kids sing. I mean dancers really sing today. But you have to be patient and not try to push the button, and get to wherever you're going naturally. Just be patient-don't rush it.

For a complete tour schedule, see www.ChitaRivera.com.