Broadway Choreographer AGNES DE MILLE "Oklahoma!" 1930's Custom Christmas Card

Description: This is a specially designed Christmas greeting card sent by dancer and choreographer AGNES GEORGE DE MILLE sometime during the 1930's. The cover shows Agnes de Mille in one of her dance poses ..... Biography: AGNES DE MILLE (1905 – 1993) was an American dancer and famed choreographer. Born in New York City, she was the daughter of William Churchill de Mille, a famous playwright, and Anna George, the daughter of the distinguished economist and "single tax" advocate, Henry George. She was the niece of the legendary film director Cecil B. DeMille. In 1940, Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre) was formed and Miss de Mille was a charter member, creating for the company her inaugural ballet, Black Ritual, with black dancers, the first time this had been done by a serious ballet company. Black Ritual (Creation du Monde--Milhaud) was not a success, but in the following year Miss de Mille created Three Virgins and a Devil for the Company, which was a tremendous hit and is still given today to greatly appreciative audiences and critical acclaim. In 1942 she was asked by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo to create a ballet for that company and her world-famous Rodeo (with its stunning score by Aaron Copland) was the altogether sensational result. She herself danced the leading role at the Metropolitan Opera House on October 16th, 1943, and received twenty-two curtain calls and standing ovations. The triumph of Rodeo, with its Americana setting, led Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein to select her to create the dances for their musical Oklahoma!. The tremendous success of these two works made American dance history. Oklahoma! was followed in rapid succession by choreography for the musicals One Touch of Venus, Bloomer Girl, and Carousel. Her next achievement, Brigadoon, with especially lovely dances, was followed that same year (1947) with rehearsals for Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro, acting as stage director as well as choreographer. This was the first time any dancer had attempted such a feat. After Allegro her time was filled with a steady schedule of assignments: The Rape of Lucretia, for which she was the stage director, and also in 1948 the great ballet Fall River Legend; the Jule Styne musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949; Cole Porter's Out of This World, as stage director in 1950 and Lerner and Loewe's Paint Your Wagon in 1951. Then in 1953 came the filming of Oklahoma! for which she was the choreographer. In 1953 and 1954, the Agnes de Mille Dance Theatre company toured, offering an overview of Agnes de Mille's choreography to that date. Returning from Hollywood to New York she continued to mount ballets and musicals every year, including Goldilocks, Juno, Kwamina, 110 in the Shade and Come Summer, for which she also was the stage director. In 1973 she revised the Agnes de Mille Heritage Dance Theatre, founded at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. The company made several cross-country tours with great success, but this project, which was so close to her heart was cut short by the cerebral hemorrhage which struck her, on May 15th, 1975, as she was about to go on stage for her lecture, "Conversations About the Dance". Her return from near death to an altered but extraordinarily active life, included authoring five books and making three appearances before Congress and one before the Senate, on behalf of the Committee for Medical Research. In 1976 she was awarded New York City's Handel Medallion, which is the most distinguished honor the city can bestow on its citizens. In December, 1980 she was given the nationally prestigious Kennedy Center Honor by President Carter. Her seventeen honorary degrees are from colleges and universities from coast to coast, and she was also the recipient of two American Theatre Wing "Tony" Awards, for Brigadoon and Kwamina, as well as many other awards, including an "Emmy" in 1987 for "Agnes, The Indomitable de Mille." (Wikipedia) ..... DETAILS: The card measures approx. 4 1/2" X 6" inches, is printed on a textured stock and opens to the message "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" with a printed "Agnes George de Mille". The backside is blank, but has a considerable amount of glue residue (the card may have been in a scrapbook at one time) ..... CONDITION: With the exception of glue residue on the backside, this rare Christmas card is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre or dance aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.

Price: 59.99 USD

Location: Cannon Beach, Oregon

End Time: 2024-02-15T21:04:54.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.95 USD