Rodeo

Rodeo (1942), one of her most important ballets, was created for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The first ballet to include tap dancing, it used distinctively American gestures—bronco-riding and steer-roping movements. Most of de Mille’s other ballets were choreographed for New York City’s Ballet…

Although in Rodeo (1942) she had also been the first to introduce tap dance into ballet, her billing as a “choreographer” and the false competition with ballet made tap seem “hokey” and passé. Another factor in the waning of tap dance was a dramatic drop in nightclub…