Agnes De Mille Essay

The Life of Agnes de Mille Agnes de Mille, born September 18,1905, was the daughter of William Churchill de Mille, a famous playwright, and Anna George. Agnes’ early schooling was at Hollywood School for Girls, a private school. She later attended the University of California Los Angeles where she graduated at the age of nineteen. After her parents’ divorce, she went out on her search to become a successful dancer. She was unable to find employment in the theatre, so she simply began to compose dances herself. Although the critics seemed to love her, she lost a considerable amount of money and decided to move, along with her mother, to London. 1 While in London, she continued to out on recitals, along with warren Leonard. She received the
same praise for her recitals as she did before but still had no financial gain. It was Maria Rambert and Arnold Haskell that persuaded her to return to London to study and improve her technique for five years. Whereas she wasn’t able to make very much money or earn much fame during this time, she did learn about creative theatre. In 1939 she joined the Ballet Theatre in New York and choreographed several productions including “Black Ritual” “Rodeo”, which she danced the lead role for, and “Three Virgins and a Devil”. it was because of her lead role in “rodeo” that lead to her being hired for “Oklahoma!” “The Dream Ballet” during “Oklahoma!” shows all of her diverse influences: ballet, modern dance, and incorporating American folk themes into choreography. The Dream Ballet” was pronounced as a first rate work of art and the New York Times declared that it achieved what many plays failed to convey.
It was very ironic that all the rave of Oklahoma! Caused serious doubts for Agnes. She felt that it wasn’t her best work and that she had produced much better choreography for other productions. This caused her to become very conflicted about her artistic judgment.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.
And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open”
Agnes de Mille also choreographed for many other musicals such as The Black Crook in 1929, One Touch of Venus (1943), Carousel (1945), Brigadoon (1947), Paint Your Wagon (1951) and Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Her first stroke happened on May 15,1975 right before she was going on stage. After her first stroke she began to write books, writing a total of five after her stroke and before her death. She remained a member of the Board of Directors of the society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. She no longer worked on Broadway musicals and only did revivals of her original choreography. In 1976 she was awarded New York City’s Handel Medallion, and in December of 1980 she was given the nationally prestigious Kennedy Center Honor by President Carter. In October of 1993, Agnes de Mille passed away at her home in New York at the age of 88 from her second
stroke.