Enrico Cecchetti: Taking the past into the future

Enrico Cecchetti was both a reflection of the time in which he worked and an innovator who helped to usher in changes in the world of dance. The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the contributions of Cecchetti throughout his career as a dancer, teacher, and theoretician, and the lasting impact that is still seen today. Currently, there are no comprehensive explorations into Cecchetti's life and career that analyze his theory and why it was developed, and what makes this training method unique. With each new generation of teachers and dancers, some of the performance quality instilled in Cecchetti trained students is lost. Therefore, there is an urgent need to document these qualities. Research for this project was done not only through collection of printed material, but also the author's ongoing personal study of the Cecchetti Method from Standards A through Diploma level.