Cowboys at the ballet The story of choreographer Agnes de Mille

Choreographer and dancer Agnes de Mille (1905--1993) yields a dynamic biographical story that's rendered with verve in this portrait of her pioneering path to creating famed ballet Rodeo. Snappy writing articulates de Mille's roots in a "dusty California town... where cowboys roam": after ballet training leads to the figure conjuring vivid characters, she "gallops ahead" to New York City, where she joins a "seething stampede" of artists interested in celebrating the ordinary. But her wholly original style doesn't quite fit anywhere. Further training in London brings the chance to work with mixed success, but it's upon seeing a rodeo back in the U.S. that the dancer finds fresh inspiration. The resultant ballet "becomes the story of a plucky, misfit cowgirl." Infused with rose- and poppy-hued coloring, Urbinati's lightly sketched digital artwork effectively captures the energy of de Mille and her work, frequently depicting the subject and dancers mid-leap. Combined with Wrenn Bobrow's vivacious narration, the result is a spirited appreciation. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author's note concludes. Ages 4--8. (Mar.)

Under California orange trees, young Agnes de Mille (1905-1993) dances freely with sagebrush flowing in the breeze; however, when she is transplanted into a formal ballet class, traditional technique does not come naturally. Instead, she favors storytelling with "everyday, ordinary gestures" and familiar motions. Moving to New York to become a professional dancer, Agnes does not find her niche easily. "She's not a classical dancer, or a modern dancer, or a folk dancer. What is she?" De Mille continues to explore a variety of genres, striving to compose a style all her own. But something is missing from her choreography. She eventually discovers it in an unlikely place: a rodeo. Captivated by the cowboys' movements that she sees as emulating dance, de Mille brings her childhood range to the stage, positioning herself for future success as the first female Broadway musical choreographer and director. Through lively, folksy text, and by sharing de Mille's unique vision, Bobrow may inspire readers to follow genuine paths of their own. Urbinati's digital illustrations are fluid, employing delicate, graceful lines and a warm color palette of dusty rose, burnt orange, and deep mahogany reds. Back matter expounds on de Mille's innovative style and includes selected source material. emily brushMarch/April 2026 p.77 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A high-stepping tribute to a young dancer who hit her stride not onstage but at a rodeo. Though she did become a renowned choreographer--and much more besides--the path that young Agnes de Mille takes from dance-obsessed childhood to breakthrough success in this gracefully illustrated account is neither straight nor easy. Invariably posed in a balletic stance or leap, her slender figure whirls across the pages from California to New York to London, studying for years ways to incorporate "a bit of ballet, / a fragment of folk, / a morsel of modern" into her own personal style of expression. Her fortunes change at last when, bouncing back from a Broadway flop, she spins memories of a visit to Colorado into a ballet titledRodeo, about a "plucky, misfit cowgirl-- / a bit like Agnes herself." Urbinati ends with the curtain drawing back on opening night; Bobrow goes on in an afterword to fill in the details of that 1942 premiere (22 curtain calls!) and to analyze how, in her "long and illustrious" life, de Mille's distinct sensibility "captured not only the spirit of a cowgirl but the heart of a nation." That she worked with both Black and white dancers in the 1930s goes unmentioned by the author, but Urbinati picks up on it, and the dancers' sense of movement--everyone looks ready to burst into action--strongly reflects the narrative's buoyant, irresistible energy. En pointe for any lovers of dance or its history. (photograph, selected sources)(Picture-book biography. 7-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.