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Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. She was born in Harlem into a well-connected family of theater professionals (her uncle was Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille; Agnes de Mille was also the granddaughter of economist Henry George). Agnes originally wanted to be an actress and always had a love for acting, but she was told that she was 'not pretty enough'. It was then that she turned to dance. Agnes longed to dance from a young age, but her parents did not allow her to. Dancing at this time was not considered a viable career option but more of an activity. Agnes’s younger sister was prescribed to take ballet classes to cure her flat feet. Agnes joined her and finally explored her world of dance. She lacked flexibility and technique, however. Classical ballet was the most widely known dance form at this time. Therefore, Agnes was limited in opportunities. Still, through her strong character work and compelling performances, she taught herself from watching movie stars on the set with her father in Hollywood; these were more interesting for her to watch than perfectly turned out legs. One of Agnes’ earliest jobs, thanks to her father’s connections, was choreographing the movie Cleopatra in 1934, though the dances were later cut from the movie. She appeared in The Ragamuffin in 1916, which was her first job. She graduated from UCLA where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and moved to London in 1932 to study at Marie Rambert's Ballet Club. In 1939 she was invited to join the American Ballet Theatre. There she created Black Ritual, the first ballet to use an all-black cast. After that, she worked as choreographer on many major musicals and a number of films, including: Her love for acting played a very important role in her choreography. She created the original choreography for such musicals as Oklahoma! and Carousel. Agnes de Mille revolutionized musical theatre by creating choreography which not only conveyed the emotional dimensions of the characters but also enhanced the plot. Agnes was always a hopeless romantic, looking for love yet getting lost in emotional affairs. De Mille's choreography, as a reflection of her awareness of acting, reflected the angst and turmoil of the characters instead of simply focusing on a dancer's physical technique. De Mille regularly worked with a recognizable core group of dancers, including Virginia Bosler, Gemze de Lappe, Lidija Franklin, Jean Houloose, Bambi Linn, Joan McCracken, James Mitchell, Mavis Ray, and Sallie Wilson. In 1953, she founded the Agnes de Mille Dance Theatre, which she later revived as Heritage Dance Theatre. She suffered a stroke in 1975, but recovered after a long battle. She received the Handel Medallion for achievement in the arts in 1976. Agnes de Mille was a lifelong friend of modern dance legend Martha Graham. The publisher of many books about dance, de Mille, in 1992, published Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham (ISBN 0-679-74176-3), a 509-page biography of Graham. Agnes de Mille had been working on the Graham manuscript for over 30 years.
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