Cecchetti method: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Style of ballet and ballet training method}}

{{Refimprove|date=December 2008}}

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== History ==

{{See also|Enrico Cecchetti}}

The greatest influence on the development of the Cecchetti method was [[Carlo Blasis]], a [[ [[Grand Master (Freemasonry)|ballet master]] of the early 19th century. A student and exponent of the traditional French school of ballet, Blasis is credited as one of the most prominent ballet theoreticians and the first to publish a codified technique, the '"Traité élémentaire, théorique, et pratique de l'art de la danse'" ("Elementary, Theoretical, and Practical Treatise on the Art of the Dance"). Reputedly a very rigorous teacher, Blasis insisted on his students conforming to strict technical principles when learning to dance, a philosophy which Cecchetti learnt from his own teachers, who were all students of Blasis ([[Giovanni Lepri]], [[Cesare Carnesecchi Coppini]] and [[Filippo Taglioni]]). Consequently, the key characteristic of the Cecchetti method is the adherence to a rigid training regime, designed to develop a virtuoso technique, with the dancer having a complete understanding of the theory behind the movement.

The other key influences on the Cecchetti method came from his own professional career as a dancer, which exposed him to many different techniques and styles of ballet. When he began to gain a reputation as a teacher, he experimented with these various styles, fusing the best elements of each to create his own ballet technique and training system, the eponymous Cechetti method. Such was the success of Cecchetti's teaching, he is recognised as one of the key contributors to modern classical ballet, his method credited with significantly improving the teaching of classical ballet throughout Europe. Where previously ballet teaching had been haphazard and reliant on the preferences and style of the individual teacher, the Cecchetti method established the model of standardised teaching which is the basis of all professional ballet teaching today.

Initially, Cecchetti passed on his method by teaching it to his pupils and professional dancers, including well known dancers of the early 20th century, such as [[Anna Pavlova]], [[Alicia Markova]], [[George Balanchine]] and [[Serge Lifar]]. Many of his students later taught the Cecchetti method, including [[Ninette de Valois]], [[Marie Rambert]], Laura Wilson,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-laura-wilson-1097378.html | title=Laura Wilson | website=[[Independent.co.uk]] | access-date=2018-01-21 }}</ref> [[Margaret Craske]] and [[Olga Preobrajenska]]. A number of professional ballet schools have historically used the Cecchetti method, including the [[Royal Ballet School]], [[Rambert Ballet School]], [[National Ballet School of Canada]], and the [[Australian Ballet School]].

In 1922, British writer and dance historian [[Cyril W. Beaumont]] collaborated with Cecchetti and [[Stanislas Idzikowsky]] to document the method in print, producing the ''Manual of the Theory and Practice of Classical Theatrical Dancing''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Beaumont%2C%20Cyril%20W%2E%20%28Cyril%20William%29%2C%201891%2D1976|title=Online Books by Cyril W. Beaumont|archive-url=https://archive.is/wip/w37yB|archive-date=July 22, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cecchetti.org/|title=Enrico Cecchetti|language=Italian}}</ref><ref name="Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana">{{cite web|author=Alessandra Ascarelli|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/enrico-cecchetti_(Dizionario-Biografico)|title=Cecchetti Enrico|work=[[Dizionario biografico degli italiani]]|publisher=Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana|year=1979|volume=23|language=Italian}}</ref> This continues to be the standard resource for the Cecchetti method throughout the world and it has been replicated in numerous forms, including [[Benesh Movement Notation|Benesh]] and [[Labanotation|Laban]] notation. The method was further documented by Grazioso Cecchetti, one of Enrico's sons, in his treatise, ''Classical Dance''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cicb.org/pioneers/pioneers-grazioso-cecchetti/ |title=ArchivedCecchetti International Classical Ballet &#124; Official CICB copySite |access-date=2013-08-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823060326/http://www.cicb.org/pioneers/pioneers-grazioso-cecchetti/ |archive-date=2013-08-23 }}</ref>{{Relevance-inline|date=February 2013}}.

The Cecchetti Society was established by Cyril Beaumont in London in 1922, with Maestro Enrico Cecchetti as its first president, and remained independent until it joined the [[Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing ]], against the wishes of Enrico Cecchetti, in 1924. Today, the Cecchetti training system is used internationally to teach classical ballet.

=== Australia ===

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is committed to keeping alive and raising the profile of the Cecchetti method of classical ballet and its training system throughout the world.

Today, the Cecchetti method is used at The Australian Ballet School, Victorian College for the Arts, and Queensland School of Excellence, and Xcel Dance Studios in Adelaide, South Australia.

=== United Kingdom ===

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The British writer and dance historian Cyril W. Beaumont was a close friend of Cecchetti and, in 1922 he collaborated with Cecchetti to codify the training technique into a printed syllabus, ''The Cecchetti Method of Classical Ballet'', which has become the foremost reference for Cecchetti method teachers worldwide. Cecchetti also gave Beaumont permission to establish the Cecchetti Society to maintain the method and ensure that it would be passed on to future ballet teachers in its original form. Branches of the Cecchetti Society were subsequently established around the world, most notably in Australia, South Africa, Canada and the US. The original Cecchetti Society still exists in Britain, although against the wishes of Enrico Cecchetti it was absorbed into the [[Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing]], which continues to maintain the Cecchetti method as a separate entity from its own ''Imperial Classical Ballet'' syllabus.

Today, the [[Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing]] promotes the Cecchetti method as a syllabus-based series of dance examinations, which are taught by registered teachers around the world in both pre-vocational and vocational dance schools. The syllabus is a progressive series of graded and vocational graded examinations, which are accredited by the [[Qualifications and Curriculum Authority]], the government-appointed regulator of qualifications in England and Wales. Successful exam passes in the Cecchetti method can therefore be submitted for credit towards other nationally recognised qualifications, however this only applies in England and Wales. These qualifications are in reality usually taken by the amateur rather than the professional dancer.

There are a few ballet teachers, such as Gavin Roebuck, who can trace their knowledge of the Cecchetti method in a direct line from pupils of Enrico Cecchetti, including generations of dancers trained at the Royal Ballet School, the Rambert School and Canada's National Ballet School.

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== External links ==

* [http://www.dcd.ca/catalogue/classicalballet.html Ryman's Dictionary of Classical Ballet Terms: Cecchetti] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531014107/https://www.dcd.ca/catalogue/classicalballet.html |date=2023-05-31 }}

{{Ballet}}