Agnes De Mille Research Papers

Have you ever heard of a women named Agnes de Mille? Well, Agnes George de Mille, known as Agnes de Mille, was a famous and well- known American dancer and choreographer. She was born September 8, 1905, in New York City. Her father was William Churchill DeMille, a famous playwright and Hollywood director, and her mother was Anna George. Agnes moved to California from 1914, where she attended a small private Hollywood School for Girls. Growing up, she’d wanted to become an actress but she later found her passion for dance. She really couldn’t do anything about it because back then dance wasn’t considered important or a career, so her parents didn’t let her dance. After high school she graduated from the University of California at 19 where

Later on she began to study modern dance. Even though Agnes didn’t earn a great amount of money or fame at the time, she did learn a lot about creative theatre. The next year, 1934, she choreographed the film Cleopatra, but sadly the dances were cut from the film trailer. During one of her returns to the U.S. , Agnes had to choreograph the dances in the film Romeo and Juliet, starring Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard. The dances ended up being a hit and brought her a great amount of attention that she’d always wanted. In November 1938, she toured the United States with Sybil Shearer, a popular dancer and one of the most creative dancers in the country, and Joseph Anthony, a renowned stage director. In 1940, DeMille became a member of New York City’s Ballet Theatre in which it included black dancers for the first time in theatre history. She created an inaugural ballet for her company called ‘Black Ritual’ the same year. Although the ballet wasn’t a hit, she worked even harder and the next year in 1941 she created The Virgin and a Devil which became a tremendous hit and brought her a lot of attention and was highly appreciated by both audience and critics. The Virgin and a Devil is still shown today and is still enjoyed by the audience. In 1943, she created a sensational ballet for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo called Rodeo.On October 16, 1943, DeMille

Shortly after, he was sent overseas during war. In the fall of 1945, de Mille went to London to see her husband, who was stationed in Germany, for about two and a half weeks. Her husband was then sent back to the United States when the war was over and de Mille was pregnant. In April 1946, their son Jonathan de Mille, was born. After her labor, she later on went back to her career and her next achievement was Brigadon in 1946. That same year she began rehearsals for Allegro acting as a stage director as well as choreographer. It was the first time any dancer had tried this. It was very challenging because she was in charge of nearly 100 cast members. But there wasn’t any hard work or dedication put in by Rodgers, who wrote the score, and by Hammerstein, who wrote the book. The act ended up being a disappointment. After Allegro de Mille’s schedule was filled. She became stage director of many acts like The Rape of Lucretia and the ballet Fall River Legend in 1948. She also directed Gentlemen Prefer Blonds (1949), Out of This World (1950), Paint Your Wagon (1951) and The Harvest According (1952). In 1953, she choreographed the film Oklahoma! and it was the first film to cost over a million dollars. Although the film was a huge success, de Mille thought the film wasn’t nearly as good as the stage version. When she returned back to New York City she