Martha Graham. #febphotoaday #handwriting (Taken with instagram)
This is my lovely friend Nicole. And of course this had to be done!
-Shit Modern Dancers Say
Summation Dance
Kelley Donovan and Dancers
Happy Birthday Agnes de Mille!
“I couldn’t do swans… I thought it was high time that somebody did something else, and I personally had to do what I could do… I liked the abstract ballets. I would very much like to do ballets like George Balanchine. I can’t. That’s a fact.”- Agnes de Mille
On September 18th, 1905 in New York City, Agnes de Mille was born into a theatrical family that included her father, William C. de Mille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille (both Hollywood directors). Originally dreaming of becoming an actor and joining the family business, de Mille’s passions changed when, as a child, she was moved to tears seeing classical ballerina, Anna Pavlova dance. When her sister began to take ballet years later, Agnes jumped at the chance to study as well. De Mille went on to study English at UCLA, temporarily giving up on dance. This absence from the world of dance didn’t last long, though, and once she had satisfied her parents academic desires for her, de Mille went right back to dancing. At this point she was too old to be a ballerina (19 years old) and so she turned her attentions to choreography and Modern Dance.
“I grabbed everything I could grab, and let me say- every choreographer does the same.”- Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille is known for her expressive, emotional theatre dance, most immediately through the dream ballets she created for Rodgers and Hammerstein (“Laurey Makes Up Her Mind” in Oklahoma! and “Billy Takes a Journey” Carousel). She was also a prolific writer, having penned numerous books on dance. When she passed away, after suffering a second stroke in 1993, Tom Valance of The Independent said, “One of the most important and influential of American choreographers, Agnes de Mille brought a new kind of indigenously American style to both ballet and the Broadway musical.”
Notable Works:
1942: Rodeo (Copeland)
1943: Oklahoma! (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
1944: Bloomer Girl (Harold Arlen)
1945: Carousel (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
1947: Brigadoon (Lerner & Leowe)
1947: Allegro (Rodgers & Hammerstein)* Agnes served as Director-Choreographer
1949: Gentleman Prefer Blondes (Jule Styne)
1951: Paint Your Wagon (Lerner & Loewe)
1963: 110 in the Shade (Jones & Schmidt)
Further Reading
Conversations About the Dance (video)
Leaps in the Dark: Art and the World by Agnes de Mille
Dance to the Piper by Agnes de Mille
No Intermissions: The Life of Agnes de Mille by Carol Easton
Speak to Me, Dance with Me by Agnes de Mille
Reprieve: a Memoir by Agnes de Mille
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
(via strangephenomena)
