No Intermission
de Carol Easton
If she had been "active in the court of Louis XIV," wrote designer Oliver Smith, Agnes de Mille "probably would have changed the history of the world." Indeed, Agnes did change the world - of dance. Pioneering a distinctive American style that combined elements of modern dance and ballet with a traditional folk idiom, Agnes popularized what had been an elitist art and irrevocably changed the American musical theater with her dances for Oklahoma!, Carousel, Brigadoon, and other smash Broadway musicals. Two of her ballets, Rodeo and Fall River Legend, are timeless classics. No Intermissions is the first comprehensive biography of this giant on the American cultural scene. During a life that spanned most of this century, de Mille worked and played with a fabulous cast of characters, beginning with her family (her father was writer-director William, her uncle, the legendary Hollywood director Cecil B.) and later expanding to include Charlie Chaplin, Martha Graham, Cole Porter, Noel Coward, Rebecca West, Anthony Tudor, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Drawing on unpublished papers and extensive interviews with friends, colleagues, relatives, and de Mille herself, acclaimed author Carol Easton takes us behind the scenes with Agnes de Mille - who was not only a dancer and a choreographer, but also the first woman to direct a Broadway musical, first woman president of a national labor union, bestselling author, and passionate advocate for the arts. She could be abrasive, stubborn, and rude - Jule Styne called her "a killer" - but she could also be loyal, generous, and understanding. Her staunchest critics acknowledged her courage and, even in the worst of times, her wit.
