As a society, we constantly combine things in hopes of making them better: apple pie and ice cream, Indians and cowboys, and, most relevant to this article, music and dance. In an art form like ballet, it seems that music and dance complement each other equally. In truth, it is difficult to imagine or perform a dance without music. However, this may not be the case with music, even if composed specifically for a dance routine. The collection of music and dance from a scene from the American Cowboy Ballet Rodeo will be examined to help us understand how they serve each other as a unit and their ability to function independently. Music depends on expression through the medium of sound. Dance is about expression through movement. The ballet Rodeo, choreographed by Agnes de Mille and composed by Aaron Copland in 1942, combines these two channels to emphasize this ballet as an American genre about cowboys and cowgirls of the West. At de Mille's insistence, characterization and representation of emotions in both choreography and music were necessary (Pollack 369). Before Copland began composing Rodeo, de Mille outlined the dance in detail for Copland. She let him know how many bars she wanted for specific dance scenes and gave him descriptions of the music she wanted for specific scenes and characters (Pollack 367). It also provided Copland with some cowboy folk tunes that he could incorporate into his compositions (Pollack 367). Apparently, Copland was providing most of the collaboration for this ballet that de Mille had envisioned. The inspiration for most of the music came from dance movements and the history of ballet. This is different from Copland's later composition... middle of paper... Rican roots and cultural identity. Overall, the Rodeo suite is an accessible piece that portrays the American brand. Regardless, the music was composed in the context of Rodeo's history, and once this association is established it is difficult to break. Both Copland and de Mille forged an American masterpiece with their groundbreaking music and choreography respectively. The work that both artists incorporated into Rodeo contributed to the revolutionary new genre of 20th century American ballet. Music and dance work in parallel and in close interaction, to convey this fun and light-hearted story. There would be no ballet without both of these components. However, the music composed under the inspiration and choreography of the story succeeds as an entity. While most things come together better as a pair, individual components can be just as harmonious.