Happy Birthday Enrico Cecchetti

Enrico Cecchetti, Italian ballet dancer and creator of the 'Cecchetti Method' was born in the dressing room of the Apollo Theatre in Tordino, Italy, on this day in 1850. As well as his other accomplishments, Enrico was an expert Mime artist, and respected teacher (Anna Pavlova herself was amongst his students!) whose work has strongly influenced classical technique, and helped shape ballet into the art-form it is today.

Cecchetti with two of his students.

At the age of 78, whilst teaching a class, Enrico collapsed and was taken home - where he passed away, just 6 years after the publication of his Cecchetti Method.  Though Enrico did not live to see the true impact his Method would have on the ballet world, his legacy lives on in the simple purity, and elegant lines of many of the finest ballet dancers around the world.

Happy Birthday Enrico!