She received the Handel Medallion, New York's highest award for achievement in the arts, in 1976; the Kennedy Center Career Achievement Award in 1980, and the National Medal of the Arts in 1986. Mother of Jonathan de Mille Prude. De Mille, is known world over for his movie directing. 'During the Forties and Fifties we were all creating the musical as a specific art form,' she later stated, adding, 'I don't know why especially. With an original score by Aaron Copland and scenery by Oliver Smith, "Rodeo" told a story about Western ranch life. Obeah, Black Ritual (Darius Milhaud). De Mille passed away on October 7, 1993. The result was "Black Ritual (Obeah)," a choreographic version of Darius Milhaud's "Creation du Monde" for an all-black cast, at that time a rarity in ballet. Lizzie Borden book. ", Ms. Kisselgoff also noted, however, that Miss de Mille's works were not invariably optimistic in tone. Arnold Haskell, the leading British critic of the day, called her "the first real idiomatic American dancer" he had seen. The producer Irving Thalberg later hired her to choreograph Cukor's Romeo And Juliet (1936). Speaking at the 50th-anniversary gala of American Ballet Theater, in January 1990 at the Metropolitan Opera House, Miss de Mille tried to distill the essence of American dance in these words: "Ours is an up beat, a hurried, hasty beat. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. The Fight for Artists and … She was 88. She is known for her work on Oklahoma! With infectious music by Aaron Copland, and de Mille herself dancing the leading role of a girl who masquerades as a wrangler to win her cowboy boyfriend, its blend of balletic movements with those of the hoedown and square-dance received 22 curtain calls. "Rodeo" led to Miss de Mille's next triumph. She was never satisfied with its ending. Agnes de Mille was born on September 18, 1905 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA as Agnes George de Mille. The next year, she staged "Three Virgins and a Devil," a lusty comedy set in the Middle Ages that was based on a sketch she had created for a London revue in 1934; the piece has often been revived by Ballet Theater. This is power. She also became acquainted with Marie Rambert, the director of the experimental Ballet Club (later known as Ballet Rambert) and Rambert's protege Antony Tudor, who developed into the most influential dramatic choreographer of 20th-century ballet. Her father's younger brother was the film director and producer Cecil B. DeMille, who spelled his family name differently. by. And we do.". Agnes George de Mille was born into a theatrical family in 1905. In addition to "Oklahoma!," Miss de Mille choreographed such musicals as "Carousel," "Brigadoon" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." In the latter, according to Mr. Martin, her choreography again "translated the inner workings of the heroine's mind at a moment of crisis.". In London she danced a principal role in the premiere of Tudor's sombre but effective study of mourning, Dark Elegies (1937). When de Mille was twelve, she saw the legend perform live and was forever changed. While her sister attended college, Miss de Mille tried to find theatrical work. The following year she choreographed a revival of The Black Crook, in Hoboken, but, aware of her limitations, she then went to Europe and for six years studied with Theodore Koslov, Marie Rambert and Anthony Tudor. Miss de Mille often recycled theatrical material. She Felt Destined To Be an Artist. Her Final Work Dealt With Death. Also in 1941, Miss de Mille choreographed "Drums Sound in Hackensack" for the Ballets Jooss, a modern-dance company. De Mille arrived in New York in 1938 and later began her association with the fledgling American Ballet Theatre(then called the Ballet Theatre) in 1939. Agnes De Mille. For Miss de Mille, dance was always the project to which she devoted herself. Death: October 06, 1993 (88) New York, NY, United States (stroke) Immediate Family: Daughter of William Churchill Demille and Anna Angela deMille. seem distinctive to audiences of the 40's was the way that dancing, far from being a mere diversion or spectacle, was integrated into the show's dramatic action. Agnes de Mille, who helped change American dance with her ballet "Rodeo" in 1942 and musical comedy with her choreography for "Oklahoma!" An important and influential choreographer, director, and dancer, who “helped transform the American musical theater of the ’40s and ’50s.”. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. ", But in that same volume, she said of such American choreographers as Jerome Robbins, Michael Kidd and herself: "To the classic base we have accordingly added colloquialism. But she never gave up her desire to dance. American dancers increasingly filled its ranks and it wished to demonstrate that it had become a part of American cultural life. This company used to conduct cross-country tours. Having become an established figure in the musical theater, she proceeded to choreograph such shows as "Carousel" (1945); "Allegro" (1947), which she directed as well as choreographed; "Brigadoon" (1947); "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1949); "Paint Your Wagon" (1951); "The Girl in Pink Tights" (1954); "Goldilocks" (1958); "Juno" (1959); "Kwamina" (1961), and "110 in the Shade" (1963). Agnes George de Mille was born in New York City, September 18, 1905, daughter of film producer, William de Mille and Anna (George) de Mille, daughter of economist Henry George. While in London, she staged the dances for Cole Porter's "Nymph Errant," which starred Gertrude Lawrence, and gave solo recitals of her own choreography. In 1974 she inaugurated the Agnes de Mille Heritage Dance Theatre, founded at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. At first, her parents refused to give her lessons because dance was widely considered disreputable at the time. De Mille was married to Walter Prude, a manager of concert artists, from 1943 until his death in 1988. A. de Mille Celebration, a gem of a program presented by the New York Theatre Ballet on Friday night at Florence Gould Hall was a welcome attempt at giving de Mille the honor she deserves. In 1988 Miss de Mille used some of Marc Blitzstein's music from "Juno" for American Ballet Theater's production of "The Informer," which dealt with the struggles between the English and the Irish from 1917 to 1921. (1955), The Ragamuffin (1916) and Carousel (1956). Her final ballet, presented by the ABT last year, was The Other, in which a young woman is confronted by death. 'I'm really like a playwright,' de Mille said, 'That is my real value as a choreographer. Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Among her other awards were the Donaldson Award, the Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award, the Elizabeth Blackwell Award, the Dance Magazine Award, the Capezio Dance Award and the De la Torre Bueno Award for writings on dance. She returned to the United States permanently in 1939 and the following year was invited to choreograph for the first season of the newly formed Ballet Theatre (later the American Ballet Theatre). Performed by Ballet Theatre, Center Theater, New York City, January 22, 1940. I tell a story, and I tell it well.' Her parents were William C. de Mille, a Broadway playwright and screen writer, and Anna George de Mille, a daughter of Henry George, the social reformer, economist and single-tax advocate. Why did operetta burst forth in Vienna in the middle of the last century, except that all the right people were there at the right time?'. She was an original member of the National Council on the Arts and the first chairman of its Dance Panel in 1965. Among those excited by the work were Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theater Guild, the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein 2d. In her long career, Miss de Mille proved equally at home on Broadway and on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House. Showing 16 distinct works. Instead, she struggled in obscurity and poverty, courageously pursuing a career as a dancer and choreographer. But her father was not sympathetic to her desire to make dancing her professional career,and she became an English major at the University of California at Los Angeles, graduating cum laude. with "One Touch of Venus" in 1943 and "Bloomer Girl" in 1944. a year later, died yesterday in her Greenwich Village apartment. She thereupon decided she wanted to become a dancer, and with her sister, Margaret, studied at local ballet schools. Miss de Mille was much in demand as a speaker, both on cultural programs on television and on the lecture circuit. Her mother, who was more supportive of her artistic aspirations, took Miss de Mille and her sister to New York. A must Lizzie Borden fanatics like me. "Rodeo" told a cheerful story in vigorous terms. 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