Loading...
Creator
De Mille, Agnes
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 550
Physical description
1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Agnes De Mille transcripts for Martha Graham biography, (S) *MGZMD 550. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Agnes De Mille was a dancer, choreographer, and author who wrote a 1993 biography of Martha Graham entitled Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham. The Agnes De Mille transcripts for Martha Graham biography dates from 1972 to 1989, and contains transcripts of the interviews De Mille conducted while writing and researching the book.

Biographical/historical information

Agnes George de Mille (1905-1993) was an American dancer, choreographer, writer, and author of the Martha Graham biography Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham. A lifelong friend of Graham's, De Mille researched the book for over thirty years, and conducted numerous interviews with dancers, performers, writers, and friends who knew and collaborated with Graham. The biography was published in 1992, and chronicles the entire life and career of Graham. De Mille is also the author of And Promenade Home (1958), To A Young Dancer (1962), The Book of Dance (1963), Lizzie Borden: A Dance of Death (1968), Speak To Me, Dance With Me (1973), and Portrait Gallery (1990). De Mille also wrote her own memoir Dance to the Piper (1952), an autobiography entitled And Promenade Home: An Autobiography (1980), and a second memoir, Reprieve: A Memoir (1993), about her experience having a stroke in 1975 . De Mille died from a stroke in New York City in 1993.

Scope and arrangement

The Agnes De Mille transcripts for Martha Graham biography date from 1975 to 1989, and contain typed interview transcripts, as well as some manuscript drafts, notes, and clippings from De Mille's work researching and writing the Martha Graham biography Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham. The interview transcripts are arranged alphabetically by interviewee name, and often include the texts of multiple interviews from different years. Many of the interview transcripts are interfiled with manuscript drafts, clippings, and notes, some of which are annotated.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from Agnes De Mille.

Processing information

Processed by Heather Lember in 2021.

Related Material

Early drafts and papers relating to Martha: The life and work of Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library (S) *MGZMD 80, contain correspondence, interview notes, research materials, drafts, and manuscripts from De Mille's work on Martha: The Life and Work of Martha Graham.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor