On the back cover of Luigi's Jazz Warm Up, movie star John Travolta says, "Luigi always defined Jazz dancing for me in the same unique form that Jack Cole did."  As I cut through Manhattan's Central Park on my way to Studio Maestro, where 75 year old jazz dance legend Luigi currently teaches, I am reminded of the movie Staying Alive - the sequel to Saturday Night Fever.

In Staying Alive, John Travolta plays an ex-disco dancer who turns professional Broadway dancer. While the script and the acting of Staying Alive were poor (a tradition that has been carried on by other dance movies such as Showgirls and more recently, Center Stage), John Travolta, restrained to only a few small dance combinations and a loin cloth, looked surprisingly professional. 

As legend has it, Travolta studied dance with Luigi to play the part.
 

A list of Luigi's past students reads like a who's who of movie, musical theater, and dance celebrities. Liza Minnelli, Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler, Ann Reinking, Madonna, Patricia McBride, Christopher Walken, Jacques D'Amboise, Alvin Ailey, Michael Bennett, Twyla Tharp, and Susan Stroman are just some of the names that sought Luigi's tutelage.

With all this flipping through my mind, I barely remember the walk from Central Park to the front door of Studio Maestro on 68th St. I open the door with a mix of anticipation and a healthy dose of skepticism; anticipation for meeting a living legend and skepticism about what makes this man so special (just because that is my nature).
 

Immediately I feel warmth and friendliness in the studio atmosphere. Both Luigi and Francis Roach, a main teacher of Luigi's technique, are present and I am excited to learn that Luigi himself will be teaching the class. 

In introductions we learn that a common bond connects us. Luigi, Mr. Roach, and I are immigrants from Ohio (myself being from the town of Litchfield, population 450 - and no, I never cow- tipped).

Eugene Facciuto, later to be nicknamed Luigi by Gene Kelly, was born in Steubenville, Ohio. In his early twenties, already a dancer, he was partially paralyzed in an automobile wreck. To speed his recovery he developed dance exercises that safely rebuilt his body. These exercises and the philosophy he developed with them became one of the first standard jazz dance techniques. Since the 1950's Luigi has been passing his technique on to students around the world.

"Where did you hear about my class?" Luigi asked. 

"I've heard about you from everywhere," I reply (okay, I admit it was not one of my best responses).

"Ahh," he chuckles with an ironic smile," I am being rediscovered."
 

I find myself in class with an eclectic group of 15 other dancers. A group of students with their teacher from Atlanta huddle off to the side to stretch. A middle-aged man practices balance exercises that I am soon to learn are part of the class. One of the regular students wears a sleeveless shirt revealing muscled arms and tall, dark looks. I chuckle to myself thinking that he resembles the Tony Maneiro character Travolta played in Staying Alive.

Class begins. As if to punctuate Luigi's reputation as teacher to celebrities, Phylicia Rashad (better known to television fans as Claire Huxtable, sports fans as Ahmad Rashad's wife, and to dancers as Debbie Allen's sister) pops her head in to watch part of class. Luigi focuses on carriage of the upper body. His elegant and fluid style exudes confidence. I find myself marveling at the perfect alignment of a 75 year old man who can still kick his legs above his head while using proper technique!
 

One of the unique aspects of the class is his use of the word "technique". Many classes today use the word to mean anatomical facility or mechanical efficiency. The dancer with the most flexibility, highest développé, most pirouettes, and the greatest leaps is considered technically proficient. This is not so for Luigi. 

Luigi focuses on the quality of the movement. To him, the quality is the technique. The two are inseparable. Great energy is spent on learning to do even the most basic steps with "proper technique". Many dancers can do highflying tricks, but do not have a grasp of proper technique. 

In contrast, students of Luigi's technique (like Tony Maneiro - er...I mean I think his name was Alexander) do a series of simple looking step-touches, ball changes, and glissades that leave the impression they can without a doubt perform amazing leaps and multiple turns! It was an incredible phenomenon.
 

I once saw Chita Rivera perform at a fourth of July show (at Disney World - yes I was working for the Mouse). It opened with some high-energy young dancers flying across the stage. Each dancer was allowed a diagonal pass across the stage to do their most impressive leaps. The audience watched placidly.

Once the stage had cleared Chita Rivera entered from stage right and slowly, graciously walked to the microphone at center stage. The audience was mesmerized. Jaws dropped (including mine). And all she did was walk.
 

Half way through the class I had an epiphany. I figured out what was so amazing about this man's technique. Because Luigi teaches quality of movement as technique from the very first step, students of every level learn to move with incredible confidence and amazing stage presence. 

Ever look with a critical dancer's eye at Liza Minnelli and think, "She isn't doing anything difficult - but she sure looks great?" This is why so many stars have taken his class. He teaches them how to move in a way that conventional classes have forgotten about. He teaches them to move from the inside. In the rush to get the legs higher, quality has been lost. But Luigi still has it. 
 

Combine my revelation with the fact that at 75 years old Luigi approaches every moment of his class with determined passion and his uniqueness is revealed. Luigi lives to pass on his technique. A bottomless well of passion for teaching feeds the blood in his veins. 
 

Jazz dance students looking for the latest trendy steps, cutting edge style, and tricks will not find them in Luigi's class. But the lessons students are missing by passing over his class are crucial. Call it stage presence or aura or star quality or whatever you like - Luigi knows how to teach it. 

I left class feeling both enlightened and honored. Although it was only my first class with the man, his 72 years of dance experience jolted me like a chocolate covered espresso bean. 

Gene Kelly gave him the nickname Luigi. Dance historians have defined his style as classic jazz, elegant, sophisticated, and even liquid fire. Worldwide media and dance awards have labeled him "Pioneer", "Ambassador of Jazz", "The Teachers' Teacher", "The Pope of Broadway", but mostly, "The Innovator".

Born in Steubenville, Ohio, Eugene Louis Faccuito began his singing, tap dancing and acrobatic career at an early age winning local amateur contests. At the age of ten, he performed with Ted Lewis and his orchestra the famous "Me and My Shadow" number as his shadow. By thirteen, Luigi replaced Dean Martin as the lead singer in the Bernie Davis Orchestra. Until he was eighteen vaudeville, burlesque and nightclubs as far as Detroit and Buffalo hired Luigi as their "master of ceremony" or soloist.

After being drafted into the Navy in World War II, Luigi moved to Hollywood to establish his career as a performer. Tragedy struck in a near fatal car accident in which Luigi suffered a fractured skull and paralysis on one side of his body. Doctors gave little hope of recovery or even walking. On his own, Luigi created stretching exercises that helped him find control of his body. His philosophy became to 'feel from the inside out" and to constantly "put the body in the right position." After a year he regained enough strength to walk into dance classes at Falcon Studio with Edith Jane. He also took classes from other teachers in L.A. such as: Adolph Bolm, Bronislava Nijinska, Michio Ito, Michael Panaieff, Edward Caton, Eugene Loring, Sally Whalen, Louis Da Pron and Carmelita Marrachi.

Over a year later, Luigi, seen by a talent scout in a Falcon Studio recital, was asked to audition for MGM's On the Town. Miraculously, he got the job and started an eight year career working at every studio in Hollywood in about 40 films, such as: An American In Paris, Annie Get Your Gun, Singin in the Rain, The Band Wagon, and White Christmas. Choreographers Robert Alton and Gene Kelly became his mentors, but Luigi also worked for Hermes Pan, Michael Kidd, Eugene Loring, Nick Castle, Le Roy Prinz and Lee Scott. He was put to work with Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Doris Day, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Vera Allen and Mickey Rooney, to name a few.

In between "takes," Luigi did his own exercises to make sure his body remained limber. Soon dancers were following and he was urged to begin his own classes in 1951. Luigi's coaching was good enough to have Horace Heidt and George Moro hire him to choreograph their shows. While working in films, Equity theaters, nightclubs with his own dance acts, and some of the early television shows, including "The Colgate Comedy Hour" and "The Red Skelton Show", Luigi continued to teach.

In 1956 Luigi was brought to Broadway by Alex Romero to dance in Happy Hunting starring Ethel Merman and Fernando Lamas. June Taylor also brought him in to teach at her school. He had created the first complete technique for learning jazz dance and in the late 1950's Luigi opened his own school calling it "The First World Jazz Centre." He continued performing and assisting Onna White and Lee Scott on three more Broadway shows. 

Luigi continues his dance classes today, fueled by his credo, "Never Stop Moving." Stressing the importance of using the body properly Luigi says, "A good teacher knows how to prevent injuries." But more importantly his advice for people is, "Learn how to learn."

The world as well as NYC has recognized Luigi's artistry by inviting him to give master classes throughout the North and South Americas, England, France, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Africa. He has served on the faculty for the Harkness Ballet, High School for the Performing Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, NYU, Radio City Music Hall, Kingsborough College, Metropolitan Opera House and Joffrey Ballet School. His method has spread to schools and colleges all over the world with the help of his technique book translated into three languages. and a master class CD. His own dance company ran for five years and pieces of his repertoire are still being performed. 

To name a few of his celebrity students there is Liza Minnelli, Robert Morse, John Travolta, Joel Grey, Elliott Gould, Valerie Harper, Madonna, Jerry Orbach, Charlotte D'Amboise and Christopher Walken. Choreographers who have acknowledged Luigi's influence include: Alvin Ailey, Michael Bennett, Ann Reinking, Ron Fields, Twyla Tharp, Hama, Arlene Phillips, Kathleen Marshall, David Winters, Barry Lather, Molly Molloy, Walter Painter, Lester Wilson and Susan Stroman. Currently, Luigi is working on a Broadway show about his life and has been approached for a film documentary on his long career.