Agnes George de Mille was born in 1905 in New York City. She attended UCLA (the University of California in Los Angeles) and chose to become a ballet dancer. Her debut was in a ballet in New York City, and after that date, she began to tour Europe.
In 1932, Agnes moved to London where she attended Madame Marie Rambert's Ballet Club. It was here that she learned how to fully dance ballet and also how to choreograph. In 1937, she danced in the premiere of Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies and became a hit. In 1939, she joined the American Ballet Theatre. It was after that date that she began to choreograph many ballets and write her own books. Listed below are just some of her choreographed ballets, their dates, and a short description, as well as some of her books and when they were published:
1942=Rodeo; choreographed
1942=Three Virgens and a Devil; her own ballet which she choreographed
1943=Oklahoma!; choreographed; integrated dance in the production, changing the future of musical comedy
1944=Bloomer Girl; choreographed similarly to Oklahoma!
1945=Carousel; choreographed similarly to Oklahoma!
1946=wrote Lizzie Borden: A Dance of Death
1947=Brigadoon; choreographed similarly to Oklahoma!
1948=Fall River Legend; choreographed
1963=wrote The Book of the Dance
1965=The Wind in the Mountains; choreographed
1973=completed her autobiography Speak to Me, Dance with Me
1981=wrote America Dances
1991=wrote Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham
1992=The Other; her final ballet
Agnes' other accomplishments include creating the Agnes de Mille Theater in 1953 and receiving, in 1976, New York's greatest achievement award in the arts: the Handel Medallion. She suffered from a stroke in 1975, but she soon recoved. Agnes died on October 7, 1993, a great dancer and important choreographer.
