Nevada Ballet Theatre mounts de Mille’s ‘Rodeo’

Friday, May 13, 2005 | 8:46 a.m.

Nevada Ballet Theatre ends its 2004-05 season this weekend with Agnes de Mille's "Rodeo," the story of a misfit cowgirl searching for love in the Southwest. The production places dancers in cowboy boots.

"We're doing a whole different thing," said Bruce Steivel, artistic director for Nevada Ballet Theatre, in reference to de Mille's stylized production, which opens tonight at the Judy Bayley Theatre and continues through Sunday.

Also on the program are August Bournonville's "Napoli" and a performance of the contemporary "Vacancy" by Gregg Sample, a performer in Celine Dion's "A New Day..."

Regarding "Rodeo," Steivel said the company sent videos, made the request and were given permission to do the production awhile back, but needed proper funding first.

"All of her ballets are pretty guarded," Steivel said. "You don't just call up and say you want to do it."

But, he added, "They saw that the technical level of dancers is high and that they're able to go from classical to contemporary easily ... They saw classically trained dancers who were capable of getting down, so to speak."

The performance, directed by Paul Sutherland, ends a season of traditional and nontraditional productions -- "Romeo and Juliet," "Dracula" and "Streetcar Named Desire," among them.

De Mille, probably known best for her choreography in "Oklahoma," danced the premiere of "Rodeo" in 1942 with 22 curtain calls.

Referring to the dancers performing in cowboy boots, Steivel said, "It's difficult, but they're specially made boots. Still, you have these giant boots you have to manipulate."