Podcast » Monica Ratcliffe
Monica Ratcliffe, one of British ballet’s earliest voices, shares a wonderful collection of memories and anecdotes with Patricia Linton. She talks about her years, in the 1920s, at Ninette de...
people » Enrico Cecchetti
Leonide Massine and the ballet teacher Enrico Cecchetti with his class of dancers from Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. Lausanne, Switzerland, 1915.
Credit: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Enrico Cecchetti (1851-1928) Italian dancer and ballet master
The Cecchetti Society was founded in 1922 to perpetuate the system of teaching established by the Italian dancer and ballet master Enrico Cecchetti (1851-1928). Based in Russia for many years, Cecchetti was a virtuoso dancer, as well a celebrated mime artist, and created the role of the wicked fairy Carabosse in Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty, as well as the Blue Bird. He became a key teacher for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (where he appeared in such productions as Petrushka and Schéhérazade), and his pupils included Anna Pavlova, Olga Preobrajenska, Lubov Egorova, Tamara Karsavina, Mathilde Kschessinska and Vaslav Nijinsky. The Cecchetti Society became affiliated to the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in 1924. Critic and historian Cyril Beaumont had a long association with the Society and was elected Chairman until his death in 1976. Cecchetti’s strict method of teaching was codified by Stanislas Idzikowski, Margaret Craske, Derra de Moroda and Beaumont, and to this day The Cecchetti Society ensures high standards of ballet teaching.
The ballet writer Gerald Dowler is joined in a special episode of Voices of British Ballet by Monica Mason (former Royal Ballet student, principal dancer and director), Jane Pritchard (curator of...
Timeline Event » 1906 – Phyllis Bedells makes her London debut
Phyllis Bedells (1893-1985) was a British dancer and teacher, and founder of the Royal Academy of Dance. She rose to ballerina level using her own English name at a time when Russian names were...
Timeline Event » 1910 – Cyril Beaumont, dance historian, writer and publisher, opens his antiquarian bookshop and his Beaumont Press at 75, Charing Cross Road, London
Cyril Beaumont (1891-1976) was a bookseller, writer, critic and historian. For half a century, 75 Charing Cross Road was a magnet for anyone interested in classical ballet. This is where Cyril...
Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (1909-1929) That Serge Diaghilev believed in Russian art and its spirit can never be doubted. His company, the Ballets Russes, exploded every myth about dance. From...
Timeline Event » 1912 – Anna Pavlova buys Ivy House and settles in London
Anna Pavlova was born in St Petersburg in 1881, and entered the Imperial Ballet School in 1891. In 1897 she first danced on the Maryinsky stage, and graduated in 1899. She was accorded...
Russian Dancer and choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky was a legendary performer in the history of dance. Born in Kiev, he was a brilliant graduate from the Imperial Ballet School, St Petersburg in 1907,...
Timeline Event » 1920 – Marie Rambert opens her school
Marie Rambert (1888-1982) was a dancer, choreographer, teacher and company founder and director born in Warsaw. In 1910, she went to Geneva to study the eurhythmics of Emile Jacques-Dalcroze. She...
Timeline Event » 1922 – Formation of The Cecchetti Society
The Cecchetti Society was founded in 1922 to perpetuate the system of teaching established by the Italian dancer and ballet master Enrico Cecchetti (1851-1928). Based in Russia for many years,...
Timeline Event » 1926 – Ninette de Valois opens the Academy of Choreographic Art
Ninette de Valois (1898-2001) was an Irish dancer, choreographer and founding director of The Royal Ballet.In 1918 and 1919 she became principal dancer for the Beecham Opera at Covent Garden and...
Timeline Event » 1929 – Nicolas Legat sets up his school
Nicholas Legat was a Russian dancer, choreographer and teacher who was born in St Petersburg. In 1888 he joined the Maryinsky Ballet, where he was an outstanding dancer and partner, as well as a...
Timeline Event » 1937 – Les Ballets Trois Arts established
John Regan had trained with Enrico Cecchetti and Nicholas Legat before he joined Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and the Markova-Dolin Ballet. In 1937 Regan formed his own group, the International...
In his own training Petipa combined elements of both French and Italian traditions. From this heritage he did much not only to create the Russian school from which his great ballets flowed, but also...