The Agnes de Mille Dance Theatre toured the United States from 1953 to 1954 under the aegis of producer

Sol Hurok Sol Hurok (Solomon Israilevich Hurok; born Solomon Izrailevich Gurkov, Russian Соломон Израилевич Гурков; April 9, 1888March 5, 1974) was a 20th-century American impresario. Early life Hurok was born in Pogar, Chernigo ...

. The company offered an overview of

Agnes de Mille Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. Early years Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMill ...

's choreography to that date, with the addition of

Anna Sokolow Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910, Hartford, Connecticut – March 29, 2000, Manhattan, New York City) was an American dancer and choreographer known for the social justice focus and theatricality of her work, and for her support of the developm ...

's "Short Lecture & Demonstration on the Evolution of Ragtime" (set to music by

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the ...

) and

Danny Daniels Danny Daniels, (October 25, 1924 – July 9, 2017), born Daniel Giagni, Jr., was an American choreographer, tap dancer, and a dance teacher. Daniels was a featured dancer in several 1940s Broadway musicals, including '' Billion Dollar Baby'', ' ...

's "Razamatazz" (set to music by

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

). In addition to several of de Mille's early pieces, the company performed the ''

Bloomer Girl ''Bloomer Girl'' is a 1944 Broadway musical with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and a book by Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy, based on an unpublished play by writer Daniel Lewis James and his wife Lilith.Suskin, 89 The plot concerns ...

'' waltz and ballets based on the original dances for ''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, ...

'' (''Ballad'', later reworked as ''Bitter Weird'') and '' Paint Your Wagon'' (''Gold Rush'', televised in 1958 with

Gemze de Lappe Gemze de Lappe (February 28, 1922, Portsmouth, Virginia – November 11, 2017 Manhattan) was an American dancer who worked very closely with Agnes de Mille and was frequently partnered by de Mille's favorite male dancer, James Mitchell. Born to ...

, James Mitchell, and

Sono Osato was an American dancer and actress. Early life Osato was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She was the oldest of three children of a Japanese father (Shoji Osato, 1885–1955) and an Irish-French Canadian mother (Frances Fitzpatrick, 1897–1954).The G ...

). There is no known visual record of the full repertory, although archival footage exists of ''Ballad'' and the finale, "Hell on Wheels--1863". There were twenty performers in the company, many of whom had worked for de Mille before. The leads were de Mille favorites James Mitchell,

and

Lidija Franklin Lidija Franklin (née Kocers; May 17, 1917 – December 5, 2019) was an American dancer and teacher of Latvian descent, originally from the Moscow area. In the United States, she was known primarily for her association with Agnes de Mille. Perform ...

, with secondary roles taken by

Virginia Bosler Virginia Bosler (September 23, 1926 – August 30, 2020), known to friends by her childhood nickname "Winkie", was an American actress born in Newton, Massachusetts. She was known for acting in Broadway musicals. Early Bosler's father wa ...

, tap dancer and choreographer

, Loren Hightower, the specialist in Scottish dance James Jamieson, Bunty Kelley,

Casimir Kokic Casimir is classically an English, French and Latin form of the Polish name Kazimierz. Feminine forms are Casimira and Kazimiera. It means "proclaimer (from ''kazać'' to preach) of peace (''mir'')." List of variations *Belarusian: Казі ...

, Evelyn Taylor and Dusty Worrall. The ensemble and understudies included Edmund Balin,

Robert Calder Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, (2 July 174531 August 1818) was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career ...

Eleanor Fairchild Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

Jean Houloose Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, Alfa Liepa,

Mavis Ray Mavis is a female given name, derived from a name for the common Old World song thrush. Its first modern usage was in Marie Corelli's 1895 novel ''The Sorrows of Satan'', which featured a character named Mavis Clare (whose name was said to be "rat ...

and Lizanne Truex.

Rufus Smith Rufus Smith ( MD) (November 19, 1766 – November 15, 1844) was a physician and politician in the British colonial Province of New Brunswick, Canada. Born in Stamford in the Colony of Connecticut, after the American Revolutionary War his Loy ...

and

Raimonda Orselli 1450 Raimonda, provisional designation , is a background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 15 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 February 1938, by astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at the Iso-Heikkilä O ...

provided the singing. In 1974, de Mille revived the company as

the Agnes de Mille Heritage Dance Theatre ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, in association with the

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

Mel Tomlinson Mel Alexander Tomlinson (January 3, 1954 – February 5, 2019) was an American dancer and choreographer. At the time of his debut with the New York City Ballet in 1981, he was the only African-American dancer in the company. Ballet choreographer ...

was a principal dancer in the revived Heritage Dance Theatre.

References

External links

* - about the Agnes de Mille Dance Theatre tour {{DEFAULTSORT:Agnes De Mille Dance Theatre Dance companies in the United States

Further reading

References

External links