Photo Flash: Rick McKay Shows the Magic of Luigi's Dance Classes in #TBT Post

Rick McKay, the producer/director of the BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE Film Trilogy, just posted a set of photos of dance legend and creator of modern jazz dance Luigi in honor of Throwback Thursday. Scroll down for a look at Luigi at the shoot for McKay's upcoming film BROADWAY: BEYOND THE GOLDEN AGE, set for release next year!

Along with the images, McKay wrote: "I think these kind of capture the magic of his classes. From young kids (who had been there for years) to an 83 year-old Tony Award-winning Sheila Bond - along with veterans of CATS, CHICAGO, MARY POPPINS, etc., all taking class with housewives and shop girls. Everyone was welcome. Everyone danced. Everyone's life was changed. I know mine was in the late 70's when I was a scholarship student studying the Luigi technique in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was to take his classes that I made my first tentative forays to Manhattan - I moved within a year smile emoticon. He had that effect."

Luigi passed away earlier this month at the age of 90. His students have included Liza Minnelli, Kelly Bishop, Ben Vereen, Tony Roberts, Susan Stroman, and most of Broadway brightest luminaries in recent decades.

He was born Eugene Louis Faccuito in Steubenville, Ohio and nicknamed Luigi from Gene Kelly. As a dancer he appeared in over 40 films including An American in Paris, Annie Get Your Gun, On the Town, Singin' in the Rain, The Band Wagon and White Christmas. The exercise routine he created for his own rehabilitation after a devastating accident became the world's first complete technique for learning jazz dance.

Rick McKay's new film will be out next year -- support his Broadway Trilogy by making a tax-deductible donation here, and be sure to watch the trailer for the upcoming installment!