2 3 Throwback Thursday and Cia Fornaroli | Ballet Webb

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Throwback Thursday and Cia Fornaroli



Throwback Thursday and Cia Fornaroli

Born on October 16, 1888, as Lucia Fornaroli in Milan, Italy, Cia Fornaroli studed at the La Scala Ballet School. Among her teachers was the famous Enrico Cecchetti.

In 1910 she joined the Metropollitan Opera Ballet in New York, where she performed until 1914. From there she guested in Barcelona, Madrid, and Teatro Colón, Buenos Aire. She  then moved to Teatro Costanzi in Rome from 1916 until 1920.

By 1922 she had returned to La Scala, where her expressiveness and musicality made her one of the most highly regarded Italian ballerinas of her day. In 1929 she succeeded Cecchetti and took over as director of the La Scala School. Here she began to choreograph her own ballets.In addition to all her accomplishments, she also acted in silent films, and danced for a time with Pavlova’s company.

On the cusp of World War II, she and her husband, Dr. Walter Toscanini relocated to New York, where she was hired as ballet mistress for Ballet Theatre. She also opened her own school which she ran until 1966.

She died on August 17, 1954 in Riverdale, New York. Subsequently, her husband donated her collection of dance materials to the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #122
Cia Fornaroli was an Italian ballerina who also acted in silent movies.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's a day you've had everything to do and you've done it.”
Margaret Thatcher

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