Active Years: 1905-1993

Position: Dancer and choreographer for the theater and ballet

Career Highlights: Before revolutionizing the musical dance world with her choreography for Oklahoma!, de Mille created Rodeo(1942). Both captured the American spirit incorporating ballet with a folk dance style.

Career Totals: de Mille worked for American Ballet Theatre, founded her own dance group, and choreographed for some of Broadway’s greatest shows including Carousel (1945), Brigadoon(1947), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), and Paint Your Wagon (1951). She also wrote an unusual number of books (more than ten).

Scouting Report: Born in Harlem, de Mille moved to Hollywood (her uncle was Cecil B. de Mille) as a young girl. She saw Anna Pavlova dance and the performance inspired her to become a dancer. One teacher at UCLA told de Mille she was too fat to become a dancer, but that didn’t discourage her. Upon graduation she moved to New York City and struggled with her career. In 1932, she moved to London where she trained with Madame Marie Rambert’s Ballet Club. Her big break came in 1939, when American Ballet Theatre invited her to join in it’s opening season. Her first ballet, Black Ritual(1940), was the first to use black dancers. Two years later the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo asked her to choreograph Rodeoand the success of de Mille was secured.

After Oklahoma!, de Mille continued to create dance for the ballet, theater, film, and television. 1953, she founded the Agnes de Mille Theater and the group toured 126 cities that year. For the rest of her life, de Mille was active in all aspects of the world of dance and her legacy is still visible on the Great White Way.

Teammates and Contemporaries: While in London, she studied with Frederick Ashton and Anthony Tudor. She was also heavily influenced by modern choreographer Martha Graham.

Fun Fact: de Mille was allowed to take dance lessons only after her doctor recommended it (the arches in her sister’s feet fell).