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One of the most frequently asked questions by beginner ballet students has to do with training methods. Many know that they study "Cecchetti", or "RAD", or "Vaganova", and so on. But many do not know what this means. Today I want to share with you my reply to a thread about Cecchetti... Like a DB friend said, it rhymes with Spaguetti... "Enrico Cecchetti is not french, and it is not a choreography. He was born in 1850 and died in 1928. He was developer of what is probably the most influential ballet instruction method of the 20th century. He was born in a family of dancers who lived in Rome. Lepri was his teacher then, who in turn was a student of Carlo Blasis, the most important ballet theorist of the 19th century. This allowed Cecchetti to learn the purest classical ballet tradition. As a child, Cecchetti toured the US and most of Europe with his family. After his debut in St. Petersburg in 1887, he stayed and became ballet master to the Imperial Theatre in 1890, (creating the roles of Carabosse and the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty in that same year). He had a very important teaching carreer in the Imperial Theatre School, which began in 1892, until 1910, when he accepted the position of ballet master to Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Cecchetti opened a school in London in 1918, and it was there that he first had students like Ruth Page, in 1920. In 1923 he went back to Italy to head the ballet school of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and he was a teacher there until his death. His style and method have been fully documented, and revised, by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. This organization was founded in London in 1924, and The Cecchetti Council of America was formed in 1939, and both organizations have the aim of preserving Cecchetti's important work. History has established him as one of the greatest teachers of Ballet in this century. Some other students of his, if I remember correctly, were Kschessinska, Preobrajenska, AGRIPPINA VAGANOVA, Nicholas Legat, Fokine, VALSAV NIJINSKY, ADOLPH BLOM, ANNA PAVLOVA, Karsavina, Leonide Massine, Vicenzo Celli (who was in Mexico for a while) and of course Ruth Page." SOURCE: Page, Ruth, Class: Notes on Dance Classes Around the World, 1915-1980, Princeton Book Company, Publishers, USA, 1984. ISBN: 916622-29-00 Well, I just thought I would send this email to either clear things up because as a dance pedagogue myself, I believe in this methodology very much. Regards.Rocio |
1.- Beaumont, Cyril. A Primer of Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method) for Children. Wyman &Sons, Ltd, London, 1933. 2. Beaumont, Cyril. A Second Primer of Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method) for Children. Wyman &Sons, Ltd, London, 1935. 3. Beaumont, Cyril. A French-English Dictionary of Technical Terms Used in Classical Ballet. Wyman &Sons, Ltd, London, 1949. (First published in 1931). 4. Beaumont, Cyril, Idzikowski, Stanislas. A Manual of the Theory and Practice of Classical Theatrical Dancing (Methode Cecchetti).Dover Publications, Inc. New York, 1975. (first published in 1922). 5. Beaumont, Cyril. A Third Primer of Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method) for Children. Wyman &Sons, Ltd, London, 1949. (First published in 1941). 6. Craske, Margaret, Beaumont, Cyril. The Theory and Practice of Allegro in Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method). (my copy is missing the first page). 7. Craske, Margaret, De Moroda, Derra. The Theory and Practice of Advanced Allegro in Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method). Wyman &Sons, Ltd, London, 1971. (First published in 1951). 8. Music for Exercises in Classical Ballet According to the Method of Maestro Cav. Enrico Cecchetti. Edit. V. Stuart. 9. Music for exercises in Classical Ballet. Children's Examinations Grades 1-IV inclusive, for use with any of the Primers. 10. Ryman, Rhonda Susan. Ryman's dictionary of classical ballet terms : Cecchetti / Rhonda Ryman. -- Toronto : Dance Collection Danse Press/es, 1997. ISBN 0-929003-33-0 11. Grazioso Cecchetti, Flavia Pappacena (Editor), Ann Franklin (Translator), Anne Franklin,Complete Manual of Classical Dance : Enrico Cecchetti Method, Gremese Editore, 1977; ISBN: 8873010725 |
For those interested, book No. 4 in my list starts with a section aimed to the study of dance, comments are welcome: "Advice to those Contemplating the Study of Dancing.Pause- and think a score, fifty, a hundred times before you devote yourself to the study of the dance. Do you realise the difficulty of this art, at once so beautiful and so ungrateful? Do you realise how many obstacles must be surmounted before you can become a dancer, even of average ability? Then think of the labour that must be expended, the injustices, intrigues and jealousies of distinction. If you are still undaunted by these disagreeable facts, you have proved yourself to possess enthusiasm and determination, qualities indispensable to success. Consider your physical, personal and mental qualifications. If you are too young to do this for yourself, let your parents or guardians give their thought to so vital a matter. Do not imagine that you can become a dancer in six months. Terpsichore is a jealous goddess, and those who seek fame among her votaries must sacrifice at her altar years of patient study and hours of physical labour. Weigh carefully these words, and if after due consideration you still find yourself consumed with a passion for the dance, the first question that arises is the choice of a master. Now success or failure in all studies depends chiefly on the manner in which they are commenced. It is impossible to devote too much care to the selection of a master, for your career depends to a very great extent upon the qualifications of your instructor. There are hundreds of so-called teachers, few of whom have distinguished themselves in the art they profess to teach. There are some of moderate abilities whose careless manner of instruction tends to develop in the pupil a habit of careless execution which in time becomes so fixed that it is extremely difficult, sometimes impossible, to eradicate. There are others, good theorists, but incapable of practical demonstration. Similarly, there are excellent demonstrators who understand nothing of the theoretical principles of their art. Finally, there is in dancing, as in other professions, a band of imposters and charlatans whose only qualifications are a sprinkling of technical terms of which they do not understand the meaning, a purely superficial acquaintance with the steps of a few easy dances, a grand manner and unbounded assurance. " etcetera. This was written in 1922. How far has our path advanced? Regards, Rocio |