De Mille Celebration Celebrates Oklahoma! & More April 28-29

New York Theater Ballet--NYTB--will conclude its Spring 2006 Legends and Visionaries Series with A. DeMille Celebration: Act 1 - Agnes the dancer, and Act 2 - Agnes the choreographer, performing April 28-29 at Florence Gould Hall (55 East 59th Street, NYC). Both performances will be at 7:30 PM.

A. De Mille Celebration will honor the late Agnes De Mille's 100th birthday and her legendary career as both dancer and choreographer. In Act 1 - Agnes the dancer, the program will feature "Three Virgins and a Devil" and Antony Tudor's "Judgment of Paris." In Act 2 - Agnes the choreographer, the program will pay tribute to de Mille's choreography with the staging of her original dances from the Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, Brigadoon and Paint Your Wagon.

Act 2 - Agnes the choreographer (staging by Gemze de Lappe) will also feature vocal selections by Broadway talent to accompany the dances: "Out of My Dreams" from Oklahoma! performed by Kathleen White (Dames at Sea); "Blow High, Blow Low" from Carousel performed by Matt Castle (Company at Cincinnati Playhouse); and "Come to Me, Bend to Me" from Brigadoon performed by Jarrod Cafaro (Naked Boys Singing).

The Act 1 program will be staged by Sallie Wilson. The program will features costume design by Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan and the music of the NYTB Chamber Orchestra, directed by Ferdy Tumakaka. It will be performed by NYTB company members: Danielle Genest, Marina Lazzaretto, Steven Melendez, Saori Nagata, Melissa Sadler, Darion Smith, Ron Spiess, Kieran Stoneley, Kip Sturm and Elena Zahlmann.

"At the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, DeMille created her first important ballet, Rodeo (1942), which included tap dancing and movements reminiscent of the American West. De Mille brought ballet form to musical comedy, using dance to enhance the plot and move the story along, first in Oklahoma! (1943), and later in such musicals as Bloomer Girl (1944), Carousel (1945), Brigadoon (1947) and Paint Your Wagon (1951). She created dances for American Ballet Theatre, notably Fall River Legend (1948), and for films. Choreographing some 15 musicals and 21 ballets, she was a significant force in a new American realism that mingled ballet technique, vernacular movement, and modern psychology," state press notes.

Single tickets are $30. For Seniors and Students with valid ID, tickets are $15. All tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster.com at 212-307-4100 or, in-person at Florence Gould Hall box office. For subscription tickets, call NYTB at 212-679-0401.

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