Enrico Cecchetti was a Principal dancer and teacher during his lifespan and had a major influence on the foundations of classical ballet training. He evolved a method of training that is as relevant for students of today as it was when first created. The Cecchetti principles of training have, and continue to produce, outstanding artistic and technically accomplished dancers, able to work across ballet and contemporary dance companies of any genre worldwide.
Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928) was born in Italy in 1850 in a theatre dressing room. At the height of his career as a dancer he travelled to St Petersburg, where he joined the Imperial Russian Ballet. He was a very versatile dancer famously creating the role of both The Bluebird and the mime role of Carabosse in the premiere of The Sleeping Beauty. Cecchetti also taught the ‘Class of Perfection’ in the school and worked with many famous Mariinsky dancers, including Pavlova, Karsavina and Nijinsky. In 1909 he joined Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes as a teacher and mime artist and travelled with the company to France and England. He was teacher to most of the greatest dancers in his day and was a ‘creature’ of the theatre, quite individual in his approach to dance. Adored by all, his pupils included Alicia Markova, Ninette de Valois, Marie Rambert, Molly Lake and Leonide Massine. In 1918 he opened a school of dancing in London. Cecchetti had trained under Giovanni Lepri (1847-1881), a pupil of the great Carlo Blasis (1797-1878) who had codified the technique of classical ballet in 1820. Later in his life, Cecchetti grouped the ballet vocabulary into six sets of exercises, one for each day of the week. In 1923 he returned to Italy and accepted the post of Director of the Ballet School in La Scala, Milan. He died there in 1928.
Cecchetti’s influence on British Ballet
Cecchetti’s influence on British ballet has been far reaching. Ninette de Valois and Marie Rambert, both studied with Cecchetti. Rambert called him “the greatest ballet-master of his time” and Ninette de Valois wrote in her memoir, “Maestro Cecchetti left a great imprint on the English School and was my exclusive teacher for four years. The important aspects of his teaching will remain a part of the academic tradition of our English ballet”. Molly Lake wrote, “A dancer trained as Cecchetti taught – with his beautifully balanced, well poised thought out exercises, the accent on his light easy stance and poise, his long line, his co-ordination and continuity of movement and coverage of ground, his rhythm and use of the floor, is as timeless as he is and can still fulfil the needs of any period”.
When Cecchetti retired from his studio in London, his work was handed down through his disciple, Margaret Craske, to a whole generation of British artists. Many of these were to spread his method abroad. Most notable among Craske’s many famous pupils, and the most important link through her (and Marie Rambert) to Cecchetti, was Sir Frederick Ashton who was Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer of the Royal Ballet between 1963-1970. He wrote: “If I had my way, I would always insist that all dancers should daily do the wonderful Cecchetti port de bras, especially beginners. It inculcates a wonderful feeling for line and correct positioning and the use of head movement and épaulement, which, if correctly absorbed, will be of incalculable use throughout a dancer’s career”.
The Cecchetti Classical Ballet Method thus, has a rich heritage. In 1924 the Cecchetti Society was incorporated with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. The Cecchetti Society is honoured to have the support of esteemed patrons. The current Society patrons are Dame Monica Mason DBE, David Bintley CBE, Lesley Collier CBE and Kevin O’Hare CBE. In the 90 years that Cecchetti classical ballet has been affiliated to the ISTD it has evolved and expanded and now provides a very wide range of training and performance opportunities for children, students and teachers. With nationally and internationally recognised ISTD examinations and qualifications, Cecchetti classical ballet is taught across Europe and beyond in Australia, South Africa, Canada, Italy and the USA.
Building on this rich heritage and legacy the mission for Cecchetti classical ballet and his method today is: ‘A Training for the Future, Recreational, Vocational, Professional’.