MARIA TALLCHIEF ''Americans first Prima Ballerina'' Native American Heritage Month
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
This is a very long article about Maria Tallchief and the ''Five Moons''...American's first Prima Ballerina and the five native women that conquered the world ballet field.
BETH MARIA TALLCHIEF is famous for being the first American prima ballerina for the New York City Ballet. Born in Fairfax, Oklahoma, 1925, Maria's father was an Oasge Indian tribal chief.
She was originally known to family and friends as Betty Marie, but took on the stage name Maria Tallchief. Her Indian name is Wa-Xthe-Thomba ("Woman of Two Worlds").
Ms. Tallchief died April 11, 2013.
Maria's younger sister, Marjorie Tallchief, is also a world-famous ballerina and the first American Indian to be "première danseuse étoile" of the Paris Opera Ballet . The dancing sisters enjoyed enormous artistic success during their long professional careers, and they founded the Chicago City Ballet in 1980.
"If anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away."
- Maria Tallchief 
Young Maria Tallchief professional American ballerina star pictured leaping in perfect form, photograph courtesy of New York City Ballet Archives.
PLAY "Pas de Dix" (Balanchine) TV Performance, 1957 — Maria Tallchief and Andre Eglevsky.
"Maria Tallchief took what had been a European art form and made it America's own — how fitting that a Native American woman would do that.
"George Balanchine once told audiences not to analyze ballet. 'Words cannot describe it,' he said, 'you cannot explain a flower.' So it's impossible to explain the radiance and grace of Maria Tallchief."
- President William J. Clinton said at The White House as he presented the National Medal of the Arts to Maria in 1999.In 1933 Maria moved to Beverly Hills with her family and studied ballet with Bronislava Nijinska until she was 17, at which time she moved to New York City and joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo where she quickly became a featured soloist.
It was in New York City where she met her first husband, Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine — they were married in 1946 (Maria was 21), and divorced in 1952. They did not have any children together.
Tags
Who is online
86 visitors
Maria Tallchief and the Five Moons set a new standard in world ballet.
All were instrumental in establishing ballet in the US.
It's been a long time since I've been on my toes, but stuff like this still gives me goose bumps.
The Tulsa Heritage Society and Museum honors Maria Tallchief's important contributions in a wonderful way.
Happy that you enjoyed the article Sister.
Thanks for the link, very impressive.
This photo of Tallchief is, to me, just beyond words. I know little to nothing about ballet but this photos says something to me. Beauty, class, a different realm then most of us live in.
Isn't it wonderful? To me, there is a cultural expression in the pose and the costume.
I took ballet for 13 years. I spent 12 1/2 years trying to escape. When I was finally paroled, it took another 10 years before I truly appreciated ballet as an art form.
She was stunning, to say the least! Incredible accomplishments.
I love you're doing this! Thank you brother Kavika. You enlighten us here.
LOL, you should have seen me, ''Fancy Dancing'' in my younger days. I was rarely up on my toes but I sure was on my ass a couple of times.
Thanks Robin..
Happy that you enjoyed the article.
Now those are statues we can all be proud of! Exquisite!
Thank you for sharing this article. I really enjoyed reading it. Such impressive women!
I have always loved ballet. I took lessons myself for almost 13 years and had to smile when she recalled her first lesson and the first position.
I am going to go back to the seeded article now and watch some of the videos that are still available to be viewed. 😁
Happy that you enjoyed the article JaneDoe..You'll love the videos.
When you think that all of the Five Moons were active at the same time and the ballet groups that they formed in major cities across the US it's quite amazing.
It really is!! I got a little sidetracked when I went back to the seed. Maria’s daughter is a poet.
Parents at Rest
Fairfax, Oklahoma
How, in the afternoon,
after performing chores
in sync – grocery shopping,
his cooking, her cleaning up –
they would lie on the angled couch,
toe-to-toe, his side, hers,
books in hand, his biographies,
her murder mysteries,
listening to Beethoven.
He’d nod off while she read
to the rhythm of his breath.
Outside the open windows
waves thumped on stony beach,
seagulls buffeting wind.
The houses of their birth,
both yellow brick, now crumbled:
one perched hilltop above
pasture, the other, Prairie-school
city house with sunken garden.
How he waited for her
these many years in the graveyard
below her childhood home
where now they sleep together
beneath the rhapsody
of meadowsweet
Elise Paschen
What a beautiful poem
Yes, she is and quite good.