Cecchetti Council examiner visits Pine Island Dance

Saturday morning, Aug. 27, Pamela Moore, co-chair of the East Coast Committee of the Cecchetti Council of America, arrived at Pine Island Dance to hold a two-day workshop “Master Class” on the Cecchetti Method of ballet.
“It’s a very difficult exam and few people that start persevere until they get their certificate,” ballet examiner Pamela Moore said. “We have about a half dozen ladies here today.”
“We brought Ms. Moore down to Pine Island, from the Washington, D.C. area, where she directs her professional company, The National Ballet,” Cecchetti Council of America Fellow Terri Siller said. “Pamela Moore is a legend. Many, many students and teachers flock to her classes, even Skyping into them from afar.”
The Cecchetti method of ballet was founded by Italian ballet dancer Enrico Cecchetti. “Cecchetti was the ballet master of Ballet Russe during the ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ period of ballet – this was the classical period of ballet,” Moore said. “That would have been the late 1800s into the 1920s. Enrico Cecchetti was the principal dancer, then he started teaching, and finally he trained dancers all over the world.
“What makes the Cecchetti Method different is it takes into account every detail from where your head is positioned to where your eyes are looking,” Moore said. “Many methods used around the world today grew out of the Cecchetti Method.”
Moore said she was born to dance.
“I was literally born into it,” Moore said. “My mother was a part of it and my godmother was one of the founding members.”
Moore earned a full scholarship to study in England and won the coveted Maestro Enrico Cecchetti Diploma. She also had the opportunity to train with Enrico Cecchetti’s pupils and holds her diploma designation from the International Society of Teachers of Dancing.
“While here at Pine Island Dance, Ms. Pam trained local teachers and some who flew in from around the country,” Siller said. “She taught us the top level of the Cecchetti Method of ballet, known as diploma. For two straight days, Ms. Pam challenged us with high-degree-of-difficulty patterns. We danced slow, controlled movements, turns, jumps and diagonals, created by the Maestro Enrico Cecchetti himself.”
“These ladies are working on their final diploma in the Cecchetti Method,” Moore said. “It can take up to 12 years to get the certificate at this final level. There are eight levels and this is the final level with an exam that takes four hours. I would recommend that any young person interested in ballet find a Cecchetti-certified school.”
“Ms. Pam, as she is affectionately known, is someone who will pull the incredible artistry out of you as a dancer,” Siller said. “She will make you stronger than you ever thought possible. With her unique style of humor and love, she absolutely creates excellence in her dancers, and the teachers blessed enough to work with her.”