Eugene Louis "Luigi" Faccuito is an American jazz dancer, choreographer, teacher and innovator who is best known for creating a jazz exercise technique. The Luigi Warm Up Technique is an influential training program that promotes body alignment, balance, core strength, and "feeling from the inside."[1] It is also used for rehabilitation. This method became the world’s first standard technique for teaching jazz and musical theater dance. Luigi developed the technique, which consists of a series of ballet-based exercises, for his own rehabilitation after suffering paralyzing injuries in a car accident at the age of twenty one. Determined to dance again, 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.[2] His efforts paid off because he went on to have a successful dance career, and became a world renowned jazz teacher.
Talent and perseverance enabled Luigi to work in every facet of show business, before and after the accident. His jobs have included working in big bands with Ted Lewis; Hollywood films with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Doris Day and Cyd Charisse; burlesque with Lili St. Cyr; television with Red Skelton and bandleader Les Brown; on Broadway with Ethel Merman and George Goebel—and for over five decades, he and his students have spread his technique globally.
Since the second half of the twentieth century, Luigi’s method has influenced generations of Who’s-Who in show business, along with a myriad of ‘dancers’ from all walks of life. This pioneer coined the phrase “5, 6, 7, 8,” which is now used universally at the start of dance routines. His motto, “never stop moving,” has moved past dance parlance into the mainstream.[3]
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Born in Steubenville, Ohio, Luigi is the eighth of eleven children of immigrant Italian parents, Nicola and Antoinette (Savoia) Faccuito. After his father died when he was five years old, Luigi’s older brother Tony coached him to sing, dance and use his contortionist skills so that he could enter local talent contests to win prize money for the family. He was “a natural” performer and won many events. By the age of ten, Luigi had an agent who got him a job with entertainer Ted Lewis as the “shadow” in Lewis’ famous number, Me and My Shadow. Lewis admired the boy’s talents and asked if he could adopt him, but Luigi’s Italian mother loudly turned him down. The young boy continued on in talent competitions where he succeeded to even win the prestigious Major Bowes’ The Original Amateur Hour in nearby Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At age thirteen, Luigi replaced the lead singer in the Bernie Davis Orchestra, a local twelve-man band that performed at weddings, school dances, and special events throughout the tri-state area of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; the previous singer was Luigi’s neighbor, Dean Martin.[4] He stayed on with the band for close to five years.
When he was eighteen years old, Luigi 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 twenty-one, 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. Luigi 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, tragedy struck in the form of a horrific car crash that left Luigi paralyzed on the right side of his body and left side of his face, and with crossed eyes and double vision. After awakening months later from a coma, he was told by doctors that he would never walk again. He said to himself, “I don’t want to walk; I’m going to dance.”
Conventional therapy at that time did not help Luigi much.[5] 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 classes taught by Edith Jane, Ralph Faulkner, Adolph Bolm, Sam Mintz and guest artist Michio Ito. At other studios, he learned from Michel Panaieff, Eugene Loring, Carmelita Maracci, Edward Caton, Sally Whalen, and Louis DePron. All the while, Luigi continued to develop his own warm ups and dance combinations that showed him off to the best of his ability.
In 1948, Luigi was hired by Horace Heidt, a popular pianist and big band leader, to choreograph for his "Bandwagon" tour, where he worked with talents such as Ken Berry and Dominic Frontiere. 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.[6] He started to use the phrase around other dancers.
In 1949, a talent scout discovered Luigi in a benefit show and brought him to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M-G-M) 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. Kelly was responsible for giving him the nickname, “Luigi.” Luigi went on to work in other films for top choreographers during the Golden Age of Musicals - Robert “Bob” Alton, Hermes Pan, Eugene Loring and Michael Kidd, to name a few. On the sets, Luigi 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.[7] Performers such as Francois and Giselle Szony, Jacques d’Amboise, Vera-Ellen, George Chakiris, Carol Haney and Julie Newmar trained with him in those and subsequent classes. Between films, Luigi also performed in professional musicals at the Greek Theatre and with the Moro Landis Dancers, mostly at The Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. While Luigi was working with Nita Bieber in an East Indian dance act promoted by M-G-M, Bieber’s agent offered to represent him if he formed his own act. He did, and in his troupe, The Gene Louis Dancers, Luigi worked with many talented partners, including Mary Menzies, Sylvia Lewis, Roberta Lawn, and Betty Utey. One woman in his chorus of dancers was discovered by Alton, who gave her a starring role on Broadway; she was actress Sheree North. His troupes performed in nightclubs, from Earl Carroll’s in Hollywood to the Chez Paree in Chicago; on television on the Colgate Comedy Hour; and in the first 3-D musical film short with Nat “King’’ Cole. After seeing his nightclub work Joan Crawford went backstage one night to praise Luigi. Entertainer Diosa Costello and burlesque star Lili St. Cyr hired him to choreograph their own acts.
In 1956, choreographer Alex Romero brought Luigi to New York City to perform on Broadway with Ethel Merman and Fernando Lamas in Happy Hunting. The show brought Luigi to the attention of east coast dancers, and choreographer June Taylor, who invited him to teach at her school. [8] A few months later, to better suit his schedule, he began teaching his own classes. At that time, he attracted many young students who were looking for a job in show business. These included dancers and performers such as David Winters, Alvin Ailey, Valerie Harper, Lee Remick, Patrick Adiarte, Sheila Forbes and Donna McKechnie. Luigi continued to perform into the early 1960s, and assisted choreographers Onna White and Lee Scott in three more Broadway shows, Happy Town, Whoop-Up and Let It Ride. He also choreographed professional stock musicals, including Can-Can and Brigadoon with Patrice Munsel, Robert Alda and Betty White.
In 1961, Luigi was one of the first teachers hired for Dance Caravan, a yearly summer dance convention troupe. This job brought his teachings and his new technique book - with his philosophy and recorded music for class - to dancers in major cities across America. He remained with the organization and became one of the long standing teachers until its closing in 2009. In addition to his classes in New York City, dance conventions helped turn Luigi’s work into the foundation for jazz dance classes in academic institutions and studios across the United States. Luigi rapidly found himself in demand for a wide range of projects, including teaching, choreographing, staging, and touring. He accepted an invitation from Germany to teach at an international workshop which boosted his reputation across Europe. He staged numbers for Gretchen Wyler, Brascia and Tybee, and Sugar Ray Robinson for American television’s Ed Sullivan Show. He got many of his students jobs in the industry, including Elliott Gould, Kelly Bishop, Walter Painter, Stuart Damon, Ron Rifkin, David Hartman, Zack Matalon and Goldie Hawn. Some of his assistants, such as Don Sky, Billie Mahoney, Rhett Dennis, Lynn Simonson and Hama, went off to different locations to teach his work. He was invited to work in many more European countries including, England, Italy and France; began teaching master classes at the Radio City Music Hall for the performers; and joined the faculty of the Harkness Ballet School.
It was during the 1960s that Luigi decided to dedicate himself to sharing his work and to concentrate on teaching. The politics and hassles of choreographing productions often left him frustrated. When teaching, he felt that he found his calling in life. It was also during this time that students lovingly started to call him "Papa Rose" because, like the Mama character in Gypsy, he urged them on in every way.
In addition to teaching at Dance Masters of America and Dance Educators of America’s conventions, Luigi has served as guest faculty for the High School of Performing Arts, City University of New York, Sarah Lawrence College, Renato Greco’s Stages in Rome and Amalfi, Italy, New York University, The Metropolitan Opera, Joffrey Ballet Summer School, Dennis Wayne’s Dancers Workshop in Italy, Broadway Theater Project, Studio Maestro Summer Workshop, Jacob’s Pillow, Youth Dance Festival and Dance Teacher Summit in NYC.
Since 2000, Luigi has choreographed and staged numbers for many benefit events including Michael Zaslow’s benefits for A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig’s disease) on Broadway, the Dance Library of Israel, the New York Jazz Choreography Project, Dancers Over 40 benefits for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the TranscenDance Group dance company, and the Ailey/Fordham Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Solo Concert. Currently, Luigi continues to teach and inspire theater and film luminaries such as Robert Morse, Tony Roberts, Liza Minnelli, Ben Vereen, Michelle Pawk, Sarah Hyland, Charlotte d’Amboise, Christine Baranski, John Travolta,[11] and Susan Stroman, to name a few. He has drawn to his classes dancers from modern dance and ballet, including Twyla Tharp,[12] Margo Sappington, Janie Parker, Joseph Duell and Maria Calegari; the latter two were sent to him by George Balanchine. He and the teachers that he trained also work with world-class athletes, skaters, and Olympic medalists.
Luigi, his protégé Francis J. Roach, and his staff continue to conduct daily classes at Luigi’s Jazz Centre at Studio Maestro in New York City.
Luigi has been honored by dance organizations around the globe. For over fifty years, he has been featured in dance and health articles in many languages. In addition, Luigi has been commended for his life’s work by three U.S. Presidents – Reagan, Bush and Clinton. He received the “Fred Astaire Award’’ from Broadway’s Theatre Development Fund, a proclamation for “Luigi Day in New York City’’ from Mayor Ed Koch, was the Grand Marshall of the Dance Parade down Broadway in 2008, and an Ohio governor awarded him the “Man of the Year Award,” in his hometown.
Universal Studios, choreographed by Louis De Pron
MGM, choreographed by Gene Kelly
MGM, choreographed by Eugene Loring
Universal, choreographed by Nita Bieber
Paramount Pictures, choreographed by Hermes Pan
MGM, choreographed by Robert Alton
MGM, choreographed by Robert Alton
MGM, choreographed by Gene Kelly
MGM, choreographed by Gene Kelly
Columbia Pictures, choreographed by Lee Scott
Columbia Pictures, choreographed by Eugene Loring
Twentieth Century Fox, choreographed by Robert Alton
MGM, choreographed by Michael Kidd
Columbia Pictures, choreographed by Lee Scott
Universal Studios, musical ‘’3-D’’ short – “Gene Louis Dancers”
Warner Bros., choreographed by LeRoy Prinz
Paramount Pictures, choreographed by Robert Alton
Columbia Pictures, choreographed by Fred Sears
MGM, choreographed by Gene Kelly
Desilu Studios, choreographed by Lee Scott
Paramount Pictures, choreographed by LeRoy Prinz
Jerry Kaufman Productions, choreographed by Eugene “Luigi” Louis
Extra work in films such as:
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