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Eugene Louis Faccuito
Eugene Louis Faccuito (March 20, 1925 – April 7, 2015), known professionally as Luigi, was an American jazz dancer, choreographer, teacher, and innovator who created the jazz exercise technique. The Luigi Warm Up Technique is a training program that promotes body alignment, balance, core strength, and "feeling from the inside". It is also used for rehabilitation. This method became the world's first standard technique for teaching jazz and musical theater dance.[citation needed]
Faccuito developed the technique, which consists of a series of ballet-based exercises, for his rehabilitation after suffering paralyzing injuries in a car accident at the age of 21. He couldn't stop dancing, so he first learned to regain control of his body by what he uses as a cornerstone of his technique – namely, to "lengthen and stretch the body without strain" and "put the good side into the bad side". He then focused on a way "to stabilize himself – as if he were pressing down on an invisible (dance) barre". He went on to have a successful dance career and became a world-renowned jazz teacher.
Born in Steubenville, Ohio, Luigi is the eighth of eleven children of immigrant Italian parents, Nicola and Antoinette (Savoia) Faccuito. His father died when Luigi was five. His older brother Tony taught him to sing, dance, and use contortionist skills so he could enter local talent contests to win prize money for the family. He was a natural performer who won many events. At the age of 10, he had an agent who got him a job with bandleader Ted Lewis as the shadow in Lewis's "Me and My Shadow". He won The Original Amateur Hour contest in nearby Pittsburgh.[citation needed]
At thirteen, Luigi replaced Dean Martin, his neighbor, in the Bernie Davis Orchestra, a local twelve-man band that performed at weddings, school dances, and special events throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. He stayed with the band for close to five years.[citation needed]
Aged 18, he was drafted into the U.S. Navy during World War II. He served in the Pacific Theater – New Guinea and the Philippines - until the war's end. After returning home at age 21, he enrolled in college to become a lawyer, but his brother Tony pushed him to study in Hollywood under the G. I. Bill of Rights to pursue a film career.[citation needed]
He moved to California, enrolled in his first ballet classes with Bronislava Nijinska, and studied other theatrical forms at Falcon Studios in Hollywood. Three months later, in 1946, he was in a car accident that left him paralyzed on the right side of his body. After awakening months later from a coma, he was told by doctors that he would never walk again.[citation needed]
Conventional therapy at that time did not help Luigi much. To regain control of his body, he started to experiment and design his own stretches. After nine months of self therapy, he returned to Falcon Studios where he trained daily. In 1948, he was hired by Horace Heidt, a popular pianist and big band leader, to choreograph for his Bandwagon tour. A few months later, back in Los Angeles, the three became housemates. It was then that Luigi, with Frontiere's help, coined "5, 6, 7, 8" as a lead-in for when to start dancing. He started to use the phrase around other dancers.[citation needed]
In 1949, a talent scout discovered Luigi in a benefit show and brought him to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios to audition for On the Town. Gene Kelly was impressed by Luigi's dancing and gave him the job despite his facial paralysis and crossed eyes. This job led to a long friendship, during which Kelly became Luigi's mentor and used him in his other films, such as Singin' in the Rain. He warmed up using his own stretches and strengthening exercises and soon found other performers following him. "Alton encouraged (Luigi) to take up teaching his evolving style", so he began a late afternoon class at Rainbow Studios in 1951.
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Eugene Louis Faccuito
Eugene Louis Faccuito (March 20, 1925 – April 7, 2015), known professionally as Luigi, was an American jazz dancer, choreographer, teacher, and innovator who created the jazz exercise technique. The Luigi Warm Up Technique is a training program that promotes body alignment, balance, core strength, and "feeling from the inside". It is also used for rehabilitation. This method became the world's first standard technique for teaching jazz and musical theater dance.[citation needed]
Faccuito developed the technique, which consists of a series of ballet-based exercises, for his rehabilitation after suffering paralyzing injuries in a car accident at the age of 21. He couldn't stop dancing, so he first learned to regain control of his body by what he uses as a cornerstone of his technique – namely, to "lengthen and stretch the body without strain" and "put the good side into the bad side". He then focused on a way "to stabilize himself – as if he were pressing down on an invisible (dance) barre". He went on to have a successful dance career and became a world-renowned jazz teacher.
Born in Steubenville, Ohio, Luigi is the eighth of eleven children of immigrant Italian parents, Nicola and Antoinette (Savoia) Faccuito. His father died when Luigi was five. His older brother Tony taught him to sing, dance, and use contortionist skills so he could enter local talent contests to win prize money for the family. He was a natural performer who won many events. At the age of 10, he had an agent who got him a job with bandleader Ted Lewis as the shadow in Lewis's "Me and My Shadow". He won The Original Amateur Hour contest in nearby Pittsburgh.[citation needed]
At thirteen, Luigi replaced Dean Martin, his neighbor, in the Bernie Davis Orchestra, a local twelve-man band that performed at weddings, school dances, and special events throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. He stayed with the band for close to five years.[citation needed]
Aged 18, he was drafted into the U.S. Navy during World War II. He served in the Pacific Theater – New Guinea and the Philippines - until the war's end. After returning home at age 21, he enrolled in college to become a lawyer, but his brother Tony pushed him to study in Hollywood under the G. I. Bill of Rights to pursue a film career.[citation needed]
He moved to California, enrolled in his first ballet classes with Bronislava Nijinska, and studied other theatrical forms at Falcon Studios in Hollywood. Three months later, in 1946, he was in a car accident that left him paralyzed on the right side of his body. After awakening months later from a coma, he was told by doctors that he would never walk again.[citation needed]
Conventional therapy at that time did not help Luigi much. To regain control of his body, he started to experiment and design his own stretches. After nine months of self therapy, he returned to Falcon Studios where he trained daily. In 1948, he was hired by Horace Heidt, a popular pianist and big band leader, to choreograph for his Bandwagon tour. A few months later, back in Los Angeles, the three became housemates. It was then that Luigi, with Frontiere's help, coined "5, 6, 7, 8" as a lead-in for when to start dancing. He started to use the phrase around other dancers.[citation needed]
In 1949, a talent scout discovered Luigi in a benefit show and brought him to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios to audition for On the Town. Gene Kelly was impressed by Luigi's dancing and gave him the job despite his facial paralysis and crossed eyes. This job led to a long friendship, during which Kelly became Luigi's mentor and used him in his other films, such as Singin' in the Rain. He warmed up using his own stretches and strengthening exercises and soon found other performers following him. "Alton encouraged (Luigi) to take up teaching his evolving style", so he began a late afternoon class at Rainbow Studios in 1951.