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The Cecchetti method is variously defined as a style of ballet and as a ballet training method devised by the Italian ballet master Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928). The training method seeks to develop essential skills in dancers as well as strength and elasticity. Cecchetti-trained dancers are commonly found in ballet and other dance companies throughout the world.
The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) is an international dance teaching and examination board based in London, England. The registered educational charity, which was established on 25 July 1904 as the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers, provides training and examinations in a range of dance styles and certified dance teacher courses. The ISTD is recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Council for Dance Education and Training and is also a member of the British Dance Council. It hosts various competitions in many different formats including Modern Ballroom, Latin American, Classical Ballet and Tap Dance as well as contemporary styles like Disco Freestyle.
The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Dancing, and was granted a Royal Charter in 1935. Queen Elizabeth II was patron of the RAD, and Darcey Bussell was elected to serve as president in 2012, succeeding Antoinette Sibley who served as President for 21 years.
Elmhurst Ballet School is an independent school for professional classical ballet in the United Kingdom. It takes students aged 11–19 years who intend to pursue a career in professional classical ballet. Elmhurst provides a full academic day in conjunction with a full vocational course in ballet and dance training."
The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of classical ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Established in 1738 during the reign of Empress Anna, the academy was known as the Imperial Ballet School until the Soviet era, when, after a brief hiatus, the school was re-established as the Leningrad State Choreographic Institute. In 1957, the school was renamed in honor of the pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova, who cultivated the method of classical ballet training that has been taught there since the late 1920s. Many of the world's leading ballet schools have adopted elements of the Vaganova method into their own training.
Simone Clarke FDI, CDE, DIP Cecchetti is an English ballerina and former prima ballerina of English National Ballet company. She retired from professional dance in 2007 and opened her own school, the Yorkshire Ballet Academy, in Leeds in 2008.
Dame Beryl Elizabeth Grey was a British ballet dancer.
Bird College – Conservatoire for Dance and Musical Theatre is an independent performing arts school and college, located in Sidcup, South East London, in the London Borough of Bexley.
Deanne Bergsma is a South African ballerina, who made her career in the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden. She was born in 1941 and showed early promise as a dancer, She first came to London in 1957 to take up a place in the Royal Ballet School, having been talent-spotted by Claude Newman, former principal dancer and ballet-master of the Vic-Wells Ballet and now a visiting examiner of the Royal Academy of Dance. In two years she had graduated from the school and joined the Royal Ballet company in 1957. She climbed rapidly through the ranks to become a principal ballerina and appeared in a wide array of roles, both classical and contemporary, until her retirement in 1975. This eighteen-year career coincided with an exciting period for the Royal Ballet. Apart from the stream of new works from Ashton and Macmillan the company's resident director-choreographers, it was the heyday of the partnership of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. The company was touring worldwide and was rarely out of the headlines.
Maryon Lane was a South African ballet dancer who became well known in Britain as a ballerina of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet and as a soloist with the Royal Ballet.
Nesta Toumine was a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and teacher in Canada.
Vera Trefilova was a Russian dancer and teacher.
British ballet is most recognised for two leading methods, those of the Royal Ballet School and the Royal Academy of Dance. The identifying characteristic of British ballet is the focus on clean, precise technique and purity of line that is free of exaggeration and mannerisms. The training of dancers in Britain is noted for its slow progression, with a great deal of attention paid to basic technique. British ballet methods operate on the principle that establishing correct technique and strength slowly makes it much easier for the student to adapt to more difficult vocabulary and techniques later on.
Vanessa Hooper, FIDTA, ARAD, is a retired English ballerina and theatre dancer who now works as a dance teacher, freelance choreographer, lecturer and examiner. She is the principal of the Skelton-Hooper School of Dance, which was founded by her mother, Vera Skelton.
June Brae was a British ballet dancer, who created leading roles for Frederick Ashton, Ninette de Valois and other choreographers.
Gailene Stock CBE AM was an Australian-born ballerina, teacher and Director of the Royal Ballet School in Covent Garden.
Vyvyan Lorrayne was a South African ballet dancer. Noted as a "softly classical stylist," she won acclaim as a principal dancer for England's Royal Ballet during the 1960s and 1970s.
Alan Carter, was an English ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director, active in numerous countries in Europe and the Middle East. Perhaps best remembered for his work in films, notably The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann, he was known in his later years as a ballet master and as a gifted painter, pianist, composer, and writer.
Faith de Villiers was a South African dancer, producer, choreographer, teacher, company director, and adjudicator. Active primarily in the northern province of the Transvaal, she is recognized as one of the most influential pioneers of ballet in South Africa.
Andrew Wilson is a male ballet dancer, ballet teacher, choreographer and academic administrator from Dublin, Ireland. The second of three Irish male students of the Royal Ballet School, he is a former Soloist of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. As of 2022, he is Head of Ballet and Contemporary Dance at Bird College, London, where he has taught since 2000.
References
- Elmhurst School for Dance Governors and Staff
- Dancing Times website
- Birmingham Royal Ballet website (News and features section)
- Birmingham Royal Ballet press section
- ISTD website
- London Junior Ballet prospectus
- Birmingham Royal Ballet press release
- ISTD trained ballet teachers in UK specialising in Cecchetti method