"Ballet is the foundation of all dance"
The Cecchetti Method
The Cecchetti method is a form of ballet instruction created by Enrico Cecchetti (1850-1928). The method is a strict training system with special concern for anatomy within the confines of classical ballet technique, and seeks to develop the essential characteristics of dance in its students through a rigid training regime. The goal is for the student to learn to dance by studying and internalising the basic principles, in an effort to become self-reliant rather than imitating the movements executed by their teacher. The method traditionally has seven grades with examinations up to diploma level.
History
Born in Italy in 1850, Enrico Cecchetti was a brilliant virtuoso dancer who went on to become the leading teacher of his generation. As guest artist with the Imperial Russian Ballet, he created the role of The Bluebird in 'The Sleeping Beauty'; as a teacher in Russia his many famous students included Pavlova and Nijinsky. Then, with Diaghilev's Company, he worked with Rambert and de Valois, the founders of British Ballet, and with Alicia Markova. The studio Cecchetti opened in London was later taken over by Margaret Craske who passed on the Cecchetti Method to numerous British dancers and teachers, including Nora Roche, who taught at the Royal Ballet School for many years. The method was recorded and published by Cyril Beaumont and is now taught world-wide.
Class Work
Pupils will be taught the principles of the Cecchetti method. Each class concentrates on barre, centre work, adagio, turns and jumps. The teaching of the method encourages self discipline, poise, strength, and gracefulness. Each class is constructed of syllabi and free work using beautiful and varied music to create fun and stimulating classes for all ages.
Training
The Cecchetti method differs from other schools in its endeavour to reduce the dancer's training to an exact science. It imposes a fixed regimen, with set exercises for each day in the working week. This ensures that different types of steps are practiced in a planned sequence, and that each part of the body is worked evenly. Each exercise is executed to the left as well as to the right, beginning one side one week, and the other the next. As with all techniques, the Cecchetti method teaches the student to think of the movement of the foot, leg, arm, and head, not as something apart, but in its relation to the whole body, to develop a feeling for graceful lines. Cecchetti laid down that it is more important to execute and exercise correctly once, than to do it a dozen times carelessly. Quality rather than quantity is the guiding rule. The Cecchetti Method is classic in its focus on line without extravagance or fussiness of movement. Method includes a very full vocabulary of movement, including nearly forty "adages", composed by Cecchetti for the development and maintenance of the dancer's abilities. It is particularly noted for its eight port de bras. Although Cecchetti insisted upon strict adherence to his program of daily practice, he also taught that the lesson of the day should be followed by studying new steps composed by the teacher to develop the student's powers in "quick study" and his ability to assimilate new steps and new "enchaînements".
Examinations
Cecchetti's own teaching was geared to professional dancers, so as a build up to the full Cecchetti Method, the Cecchetti Society has evolved a series of graded syllabi and examinations to meet the needs of children at both pre-vocational and recreational levels. as well as those of the vocational student.. There are also qualifying examinations for teachers, granting Associate, Licentiate and Fellowship status of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing.