Agnes de Mille Overview

Niece of larger-than-life movie director Cecil B. de Mille, Agnes had star quality of her own and talent to burn. Trained in England at the Ballet Rambert, de Mille returned to the United States to help form the American Ballet Theater,... [more]

Niece of larger-than-life movie director Cecil B. de Mille, Agnes had star quality of her own and talent to burn. Trained in England at the Ballet Rambert, de Mille returned to the United States to help form the American Ballet Theater, and served as both dancer and choreographer. Credited with introducing American folklore to the ballet, de Mille's vigorous, naturalistic ballets integrate movement, mood, and character with a distinct sense of time and place. "Rodeo," created in 1942 for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, features a spirited, stylized square dance as its unlikely climax. "Fall River Legend," choreographed in 1948 for the American Ballet Theater, is an unnerving psychological portrait of the legendary New England spinster Lizzie Borden, who killed both her parents with an ax. De Mille's most celebrated work, the 1943 Broadway smash (and 1955 film) "Oklahoma!", has stunningly open, innovative choreography that is a breathtaking example of de Mille's distillation of the exuberant American spirit. "Oklahoma!"'s homespun theme and wide-open spaces freed up de Mille's folksy muse. Her watershed work completely recast the American musical comedy with its breakthrough blend of story, song, and dance; the technically sophisticated dance sequences are unprecedented in their advancement of narrative. Other noteworthy successes in de Mille's canon include "Bloomer Girl," "Carousel," "Three Virgins and a Devil," and the mini-ballet "Laurie Makes Up Her Mind." [show less]