De Mille Working Group Presents AGNES DE MILLE AND THE INTRINSIC AMERICAN, October 2

Continuing its recognition of the 80th anniversary of Agnes De Mille's groundbreaking ballet Rodeo, The De Mille Working Group and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will present “Agnes De Mille and the Intrinsic American,” a panel discussion and performance honoring the late dancer and choreographer, on Monday, October 2 from 6-8:00PM at the Library's Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center.

Moderated by Norton Owen, Director of Preservation at Jacob's Pillow, the  program will examine what de Mille's work, narratives, and storytelling language reveal and why her  choreographic work was considered quintessentially American. The program is the second in a two-part  series that began in April 2023 with “Agnes De Mille: The Female Narrative.”  

Panelists encompass noted past interpreters and current répétiteurs of the choreographer's work  including American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Régisseur Susan Jones; ABT Artistic Director Emeritus Kevin  McKenzie; former dancer, vocalist, and Broadway choreographer Hope Clarke; former Alvin Ailey  American Dance Theater principal dancer and current teacher Sarita Allen; and former New York Theatre  Ballet (NYTB) principal dancer Elena Zahlman. The program will also showcase de Mille's work through  excerpts of archive film and live performance. The de Mille works to be discussed include Rodeo,  Oklahoma!, Fall River Legend, Paint Your Wagon, Kwamina, and The Four Marys.  

Performers scheduled to appear for “Agnes De Mille and the Intrinsic American” include ABT  apprentice Madison Brown, former NYTB principal dancers Amanda Treiber-Scales and Elena Zahlman,  and NYTB principal dancer Giulia Faria. Excerpts from de Mille's Rodeo, Oklahoma!, and Paint Your  Wagon will be performed. 

“Agnes De Mille and the Intrinsic American” is curated for the New York Public Library for the  Performing Arts by Diana Byer and Diana Gonzalez. The program is offered free to the public with  registration requested. For more information and to register, please visit Agnes De Mille and the Intrinsic  American | The New York Public Library (nypl.org). 

Agnes De Mille was a renowned dancer, choreographer, writer, lecturer and director whose concert and  choreographic career spanned almost 70 years of the 20th century. She forever changed the course of  American dance for both ballet and musical theater. De Mille celebrated the American spirit through  narrative ballets, which were driven, most often, through strong women characters. Her long illustrious  career produced over 21 ballets and 17 musical theater productions. A pioneer for women in the arts  throughout the 20th century, she was one of the first women to both direct and choreograph a Broadway  musical and was a founding member for the union of stage directors and choreographers (SDC) for which  she was the only female president of a trade union at the time. A great stateswoman for the arts, she was  appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the National Advisory Committee for the Arts and the later  National Council of the newly formed National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) by President Lyndon  Johnson. Throughout her long and illustrious career, de Mille was a tremendous artistic and intellectual  force who helped shape the identity and history of the American performing arts through her artistry,  engagement, and search for the “intrinsic American.”  

De Mille Productions was established in 1993 by Jonathan Prude, an heir to Agnes De Mille, to promote  the performance and licensing of Agnes De Mille's choreographic works. The ballets are owned by  Jonathan Prude and the licensing and stagings are administered and overseen by The De Mille Working Group, under the executive directorship of Anderson Ferrell.  

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