Sample Solution

This idea of the working woman was additionally exemplified by real women working in the show business industry. Once again using Oklahoma as an example, we can look at the work of Agnes de Mille who was said to have revolutionised the way dance was utilised in musical theatre. This was done with her dream ballet scene in which dance was integrated into the storyline of the musical for the first time. It was said in the book ‘America’s Musical Stage’ by Julian Mates, ‘Agnes de Mille’s dream-sequence dances moved the story forward, so much so that no musical with serious pretensions could do without a dream ballet for years to come.’ (Mates, 1987, p.190). This shows the strength of the impact de Milles work had on later shows and the way dance was used in musical theatre. Others saw the magnitude of success achieved by this new style of choreography and how it aided the progression of the storyline of the musical itself, and through this realised that it was something that could and should be replicated through other works of musical theatre.

This is evident in the work of other choreographers. However, de Mille’s work set the evolution of musical theatre dance in motion in that dance started being used in a diegetic manner rather than within a dream. ’Jerome Robbins makes use of diegetic dance numbers’, (Symonds and Taylor, 2013, p.86). This means that the characters know they are dancing, allowing for a more pure integration of dance into the musical, it also gives the characters opportunity to comment and observe (Symonds and Taylor, 2013, p.88). These famous dance numbers from musicals, such as West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959), were danced within the circumstances of the performance. It could be argued that this shows how the work of Agnes de Mille changed how dance was used in the musical theatre world after 1943.