{"product_id":"24075-cecchetti-enrico-lifar-serge-original-photograph-on-the-venice-lido-ca-1925","title":"Cecchetti, Enrico. (1850–1928) \u0026 Lifar, Serge. (1905–1986) Original Photograph on the Venice Lido, ca. 1925","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eOriginal real photo postcard of Enrico Cecchetti and Serge Lifar together in Venice, ca. 1925. Identified on the verso in blue ink by Lifar himself, \"Cecchetti -Lifar au Lido (Venise) devant le Theatre du Lido.\" On Satrap photograph stock, light staining to recto, a few strips of tape stain to verso, else fine. 3.5 x 5.5 inches; 8.7 x 13.9 cm. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eA very fine original photograph of perhaps the greatest teacher in ballet history, together with one of his most celebrated students, the young Serge Lifar, from whose collection this photograph was originally obtained.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\"In  July  and  August,  when  the  theatre  was  closed,  Diaghilev  engaged Cecchetti  to  teach  Lifar  exclusively, to  which  Cecchetti  agreed,  adding,  'Lifar exclusively  with Celli.'  Diaghilev,  amused rather  than  surprised,  accepted  the  terms, and  showed  great  interest  in  our  lessons  during our  stay  at  the  Lido,  near  Venice.  Sometimes  we  took  a gondola,  and  glided to  the  Teatro  Fenice  for  our  two  hour  lesson ; but  as  the  trip  to  Venice  by  gondola  was three  hours  in  the  hot  sun  each  way, Madame  soon  put  a stop  to  that!  We  hustled around  and  found  a room  at  the  Lido  which was  adequate  for  our  lessons.  It  was  a deserted exposition  building,  used  for  the  biennial showing  of  paintings. The  building  was white  stucco,  and  close  to  the  Grand  Hotel where  we  lived.  The  room,  though  dusty from  disuse,  was  light,  airy,  and  agreeably pleasant.  Maestro  would  beat  time  with  his cane  and  whistle  the  tunes  for  our  musical accompaniment.  What  glorious  lessons  those were!\" (Vincenzo Celli, fellow Cecchetti student, as quoted in Dance Index, Vol. V No. 7, July, 1946)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eCreator of such roles as the Bluebird and Carabosse in Petipa's \u003ci\u003eThe Sleeping Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e, Enrico Cecchetti was a star at the Imperial Ballet and by 1888 was widely accepted as the greatest ballet virtuoso in the world. As a teacher, he taught and mentored not only Lifar but also Anna Pavlova, Leonide Massine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Olga Preobajenska, Anton Dolin, Alexandra Danilova among many others and traveled extensively as ballet master of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. He created the ballet technique known now as the Ceccheti Method, still used by many ballet companies around the world. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eBorn in 1905, Russian-born, Serge Lifar was introduced to dance in 1920 by Bronislava Nijinska, under whom he began to study. Brought to France to join Sergei Diaghilev’s \u003ci\u003eBallets Russes\u003c\/i\u003e, Lifar studied with Cecchetti and became premier danseur of the company and created the title roles in a number of George Balanchine’s early ballets, including \u003ci\u003eThe Prodigal Son. \u003c\/i\u003eHe later became director of the Paris Opera Ballet (1929) and there created over 50 ballets, including the path-breaking \u003ci\u003eIcare\u003c\/i\u003e (1935), which was written to be danced without music.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":62012382871711,"sku":"24075","price":750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/18316_Cecchetti_Lifar_photo_recto.jpg?v=1722189639","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/24075-cecchetti-enrico-lifar-serge-original-photograph-on-the-venice-lido-ca-1925","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}