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Maria Tallchief

FIRST AMERICAN PRIMA BALLERINA

An Osage Dancer

24 Maria Tallchief was born in 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma,
which is on the Osage Indian Reservation. Her father was
a wealthy real estate executive. Her grandmother’s name
was Eliza Big Heart, and, as a child, Maria would attend
tribal dances with her.

25 Maria’s training in ballet and piano began when she
was three years old. She and her sister Marjorie were very

talented, and her parents decided to move to Beverly Hills,
California, to give the girls more opportunities for artistic
development. By age 12, Maria was studying with some
of the most respected ballet instructors in the nation.
26 At age 15, Maria gave a solo performance at the
Hollywood Bowl, and two years later, after high school,
she joined a Russian ballet troupe based in New York City.

Worldwide Fame

27 Maria was not treated well by her fellow dancers in the
troupe because of her Native American heritage, but they
soon changed their viewpoints. Maria became the first
American of any background to break barriers in ballet.
She became the first American ever to dance at
the Paris Opera. And at age 22, when she joined the
New York City Ballet, she became the first ever American

prima ballerina, or chief dancer, of a ballet company.
28 Maria lived to age 88, and after an accomplished
career with the New York City Ballet, went on to found
the Chicago City Ballet and serve as its artistic director.
Among her many honors, she received the National
Medal of Arts, the highest award given by the U.S.
government for contributions to the arts.

viewpoints Viewpoints are ways of looking at things.

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