No Intermissions: The Life Of Agnes De Mille [Paperback]

Carol Easton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2000

Pioneering a distinctly American style that combined modern dance and ballet with a traditional folk idiom, Agnes de Mille popularized what had been an elitist art and irrevocably changed the American musical theater. During a life that spanned most of the twentieth century, de Mille worked and played with a fabulous cast of characters, from her uncle (the legendary Cecil B. de Mille) to Charlie Chaplin, Martha Graham, Cole Porter, Noël Coward, Rebecca West, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Drawing on unpublished papers and extensive interviews with friends, colleagues, relatives, and de Mille herself, Carol Easton takes us behind the scenes of de Mille's extraordinary life: struggling to establish a reputation, surviving a series of disastrous love affairs, meeting the conflicting demands of ambition and motherhood, and dealing with a devastating illness. She unforgettably brings to life the combination of intelligence, artistry, and humor that was Agnes de Mille.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Agnes is a very demanding person, she eats up the air," said a friend of choreographer, writer and cultural whirlwind Agnes de Mille. This biography is equally daunting. Easton, biographer of Sam Goldwyn, Jacqueline du Pre and Stan Keaton, has evaluated almost every dance movement, artistic exchange and tantrum of de Mille's 88 years. But far from being irksome, the detailed chronology gathers strength as its subject careens from wild success (Oklahoma and Rodeo) to chaotic failure (Sebastian lasted one night, and Come Summer closed after seven performances). Along the way, Easton doesn't neglect de Mille's equally unpredictable emotional life. Daughter of playwright William de Mille, niece of Hollywood's larger-than-life Cecil B. de Mille, she had a torturous relationship with her mother, Anna, that dominated her early career. Later, her 45-year marriage to Walter Prude, an executive of the Sol Hurok Agency, held together despite internal competition and marked divergence of personalities. The account of their last years together is deeply moving. Nor does Easton forget de Mille's almost accidental writing career. Her Dance to the Piper was a 1952 bestseller, and throughout her career, she always had a literary project under way. Her major life of Martha Graham was published in 1991, only two years before her death. This skillful portrait assumes a deep interest in the world of dance and musical theater. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In To A Young Dancer (LJ 7/5/62, o.p.), de Mille once advised dancers to "try to consider the step as a whole, a long curve, and sustain throughout." Easton has considered the life and career of her subject as a whole, told the entire story, and sustained a richly detailed narrative that sparkles with the names of stars in the world of dance, theater, and film. Described in New York Newsday as "perhaps the best dancer ever to write and the best writer ever to dance," de Mille not only transformed the American musical with her choreography (Oklahoma!, Carousel, Brigadoon) and enlivened the ballet scene (Rodeo and Fall River Legend) but produced a number of notable books as well (e.g., Dance to the Piper, Da Capo, 1982; Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham, LJ 8/91). Thoroughly researched and written with the cooperation of its subject and her family, friends, and colleagues, this carefully crafted account of the life of one extraordinary woman belongs in all performing arts collections.?Carolyn M. Mulac, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306809753
• ISBN-13: 978-0306809750
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,739,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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disheveledprofessor "disheveledprofessor" (the home of the Blue Angels) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Intermissions: The Life Of Agnes De Mille (Paperback)

This biography offers little insight to what already exists, and doesn't convey the passion of De Mille's own writings [although they are quoted lavishly]. You would be much richer served to read her own memoirs:
"Dance to the Piper" [published 1952][early memoir: childhood in Hollywood, struggle to become a dancer]
"And Promenade Home" [published 1959] [early success, and wartime marriage]
"Speak to Me, Dance with Me" [published 1973] [more detail on the early career years, in London and in Hollywood]
"Where the Wings Grow" [published 1978] [about summers at Merriewold, the de Mille estate near the Delaware Water Gap]
"Reprieve: A Memoir" [published 1982] [about her stroke]

Agnes De Mille came from a driven and successful family: her maternal grandfather was the world renown economist, Henry George. Her father, William de Mille, was a Broadway playwright, and later Hollywood scenarist. Her uncle, Cecil B. De Mille, is known world over for his movie directing. She grew up in a milieu that expected achievement, and achieve she did: choreographer of the highest caliber, on Broadway [the groundbreaking "Oklahoma!", "Brigadoon", etc.] and in the ballet world [the groundbreaking "Rodeo", "Fall River Legend", "Three Virgins and a Devil"].

De Mille was passionate about dance. She was passionate about her beliefs [sometime see the video of her debate with a Hollywood columnist during the McCarthy era], passionate about everything. She was also an astute observer, a gifted writer, and self-critical.

You will find her books enthralling. Go to the source!