By Nicholas Jones

Ballet’s secret code is a documentary about the Origins and principles behind Maestro Enrico Cecchetti’s lifetime of work and devotion to the Classical humanist art form: Ballet. Madam Julie Cronshaw takes us through the depths of his character, education and philosophy and his work as a Ballet Master under Diaghilev for the Ballet Russe; a world famous ballet ensemble in the 1910’s and 20’s.

It is his five principles of the week that are paid attention to most rigorously and present a simple yet complex method for extracting the beautiful aesthetics that his technique and syllabus requires and all of this while presenting and acting out a character who is part of a larger story.

This documentary clarifies the link between the Golden Renaissance origin and the development of Classical Ballet thereafter by the likes of Cecchetti and also others too such as Vaganova in Russia. It becomes clear to one that Cecchetti is influenced by the ideas of this golden time and is successful in furthering and developing an original and more advanced technique that has been used to advance the technical standard of ballet and also the choreographic standard too in certain Theatres.

More work needs to be done to uncover even deeper layers of this rich cultural history regarding the other classical ballet techniques and principles behind them, but for now this fine presentation will give you the refined history of ballet education you are looking for and will surely bring you many questions as to why we are so far from the path that we originally set out on.

You can contact Julie Cronshaw for teaching at: info@balletsecretcode.com and read about all things Cecchetti related with resources on http://www.TheCecchettiConnection.com

Reviewer Bio: Nicholas Jones is a professional dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal where he currently dances professionally. In 2018, he founded Artists Alliance for Africa dedicated to providing classical arts training for children in Kenya with the goal of establishing a full academy in kenya. He has been an advisory board member of the Rising Tide Foundation since 2020.