The Purity and Magic of the Cecchetti Method

Ballet wouldn’t be the art form it is today without its long history of incredible teachers. And while many training methods have proven themselves successful over the years, the man who trained some of the greatest dancers of all time—including Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, and Vaslav Nijinsky—was clearly doing something right. 

The Man

Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928) was born in Italy to two dancers in a theater dressing room. He made his stage debut while still a baby in his father’s arms, grew up to be one of the most celebrated male dancers of his time, was the ballet master of the Mariinsky Ballet and the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, and died shortly after teaching a class at La Scala in Milan. His entire life was immersed in ballet. 

Cecchetti learned to dance from his father, as well as from notable 19th-century Italian teachers like Cesare Coppini and Filippo Taglioni (ballerina Marie Taglioni’s father), who were taught by Carlo Blasis, who was taught by Jean Dauberval. 

The teaching method that Cecchetti developed was inspired by Blasis’ rigorous and precise technique, rooted in both the French and Italian styles. It was ballet stripped down to its purest form, without flash or affectation. 

Cecchetti was a beloved teacher with a devoted following. In 1922, his friend Cyril Beaumont (the renowned British dance historian) brought together some of his pupils in London to form the Cecchetti Society. Original members included Margaret Craske, Friderica Derra de Moroda, Molly Lake, Jane Forrester, Dame Marie Rambert, and Dame Ninette de Valois. Thanks to this Society, the Cecchetti method was preserved and spread throughout the world. 

The Method

What makes the Cecchetti method so special, and why does it continue to create dancers who excel not just technically but also artistically? 

“The Cecchetti training teaches you to be a person,” says Diana Byer, founder and former artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet. Byer was a longtime pupil of Margaret Craske, who was a pupil of Cecchetti and an original member of the Society. “Cecchetti is about dancing, not athleticism. It’s about developing skill, not just talent. Skill is how you use your eyes. Skill is detail, the turn of a wrist to give a specific meaning. It’s way more than the height of a jump and how many turns you can do.”

The Cecchetti method offers holistic training. Students learn the expression of the hands and eyes alongside the positioning of the head, limbs, and torso. Dancers are taught to be generous with their audiences, to focus on connecting and not just impressing. 

There is also an emphasis on anatomical awareness, making sure dancers understand their unique capabilities and limitations, which leads to a deep respect for the body and long-term injury prevention. For instance, turnout is from the hips, not the knees or the ankles. The arch of the back starts between the shoulder blades, not over-compressing the lower spine. The torso is not strictly upright, but moves. Perhaps this ease of movement is what has attracted so many modern dancers to Cecchetti classes over the years. Paul Taylor, Carolyn Brown, and Viola Farber were a few of many notable modern dancers who regularly attended Craske’s classes. 

That said, the Cecchetti method is very rigorous. “It puts the body through rigid discipline,” Byer explains. “Then, the body is gradually freed from that discipline until it begins to dance on a physical as well as a musical plane.” The same combinations are repeated over and over to build muscle memory. Dancers become strong and supple in a way that does not distort the body. 

The Cecchetti method also emphasizes musicality—and it is about more than being on the beat. Dancers must serve and respect the music. One of the exercises Byer remembers from Craske’s class involved the students doing a port de bras to a soft waltz and then to a pizzicato. “You don’t go faster, but the whole feeling changes,” she says. “You learn to arrange your features differently. The quality of movement changes.”

Cecchetti in America and Abroad

The Cecchetti Society in London (which was eventually folded into the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) soon branched out to other parts of the world, including the U.S., where it now has a strong foundation in the Cecchetti Council of America and Cecchetti USA. Both organizations train and certify teachers and offer accredited examinations to students learning the method, from early-childhood through professional levels. 

The Cecchetti technique is preserved and practiced in top-tier ballet schools around the world, and organizations dedicated to training teachers and students in the method exist in Australia, Canada, Italy, and South Africa. 

“Cecchetti is recognized both nationally and internationally as a vital and respected training method [because it] produces artists of exceptional caliber,” says Anne Butler, chair of Cecchetti Ballet Australia and Cecchetti International Classical Ballet. Butler was a pupil of Athol Willoughby, OAM, who was a pupil of Madam Lucie Saronova, who was a pupil of Cecchetti. She goes on: “A glance at the Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Competition, where alumni are now dancing in leading companies worldwide, confirms the value of this training.”

Cecchetti Ballet Australia has upheld the method’s principles while adapting the curriculum to be more balanced and age-appropriate. It also offers two distinct training paths to meet the needs of both recreational and vocational students. 

Butler hopes that all organizations bearing Cecchetti’s name can continue to unite and collaborate to preserve his method while allowing it to grow. “If Cecchetti were alive today,” she says, “I truly believe he would have evolved his method to reflect the ever-changing landscape of dance—while maintaining the core of anatomical logic, musicality, and disciplined artistry.”

Resources and Legacy

Resources abound to aid those who haven’t been trained in the Cecchetti method in bringing it into the studio and onto the stage. For example, Byer recently made a series of videos for Dancio. The collection includes 16 ballet classes spanning from early childhood through the professional level. The classes represent the Cecchetti tradition through the lineage of Craske, who taught some of the greatest dancers of her time, including Frederick Ashton, Margot Fonteyn, and Agnes de Mille. 

Learning from a teacher like Byer, who is in Cecchetti’s direct lineage, is a rare treat, but thanks to the myriad certification programs available, Cecchetti’s ideals are accessible to dancers worldwide. Cecchetti International has gathered recommended resources, and the Cecchetti Society Trust shares its Legacy Resources. A list of Cecchetti members and representatives around the U.S. can be found at the Cecchetti Council of America’s directory. Cecchetti USA also has a list of teacher mentors.  

“I find immense joy in passing on this legacy,” Butler says. “What I love most is how this method grounds artistry in truth and sincerity. It allows dancers to develop their own unique voices while staying rooted in classical principles. As Cecchetti himself said, ‘The artist must possess not only technical ability, but also an artistic soul.’ ”

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