11 replies to this topic

[Watermill]

It's just under a year til Agnes de Mille's birthday centennial on Sept. 18 2005.
Are there any plans to remember or revive her works?
Though she was attached to Ballet Theatre under Chase, I doubt ABT will mark the event.  (Unless the character dances of Ashton's recent centennial have softened up the hardened ballet purists.) I suppose it also depends on the copyright status of her choreography.
-Wonder if there's a savvy Broadway producer who could put together an evening of her best work.  With the recent dance oriented Broadway hits, it might be a smart move. (And more work for dancers!)
Any suggestions for an Evening of de Mille?
Those interested in a good biography, I suggest No Intermissions by Carol Easton.  A fascinating, funny, infuriating lady of the dance.

[Amy Reusch]

CUNY has put up on YouTube an interview with Agnes de Mille from their archives



Curious set design.


Also, Dancers over 40 had a panel discussion amongst former de Mille dancers.. takes a bit to get underway but some charming anecdotes:

[cubanmiamiboy]

"Bloomer Girl".
From the February 28, 1956 TV production, featuring choreography by Agnes de Mille, music by Harold Arlen, and lyrics by E. Y. "Yip" Harburg.
Danced by James Mitchell, Lidia Franklin, Betty Low, Emy St. Just, Ray Barra, Virginia Bosler, Scott Douglas, Joan Eheman, Leslie Franzos, Catherine Horn, Carl Luman, Enrique Martinez, Christine Mayer, Darrell Notara, Robert Pagent, Felix Smith, and Dusty Worrall.



I haven't heard any reports from my friends on Alonso's recent stagings of de Mille's "Three Virgins and a Devil" or "A Rose for Miss Emily" for the recently finished Havana Ballet Festival...

[Amy Reusch]

It seems kind of strange to me that ballet & modern dance were so much at odds with each other for so long... I see such reflections of Martha Graham & Doris Humphrey in this work...  Graham, Tudor, Humphrey, De Mille... all look so much more like each other than their predecessors be it Marius Petipa or Isadora Duncan...

[Mme. Hermine]

[Mme. Hermine]

[Mme. Hermine]

http://www.agnesdemi....com/index.html

[lmspear]

The Frederick Wiseman documentary on ABT features a sequence of de Mille rehearsing Amanda McKerrow.

[Mme. Hermine]

[Amy Reusch]

What I really wish had been preserved was DeMille's lecture demonstrations... I heard so much about how wonderful these are and she certainly had a gift for telling stories... was it The Joffrey who used to present them?  I wonder if they aren't in some archive.  I heard she would have paintings of dancers projected and then bring them to life... (or perhaps Joffrey brought them to life?)... but I suppose the media of the time wouldn't be so good at catching projections & stage lighting at the same time?

[Mme. Hermine]

like this maybe?  there's a lot in the library on her.

http://catalog.nypl....eng&suite=pearl

[Amy Reusch]

yes!  Exactly!  Now there's something I wish they'd stream off their servers as a service to the community!

You lucky NYers!