Maria Tallchief, America's First Prima Ballerina, Changed Ballet Forever

03.12.2024 - 22:53 / atlasobscura.com

This story was originally published on The Conversation . It appears here under a Creative Commons license.

On Nov. 27, 1949, prima ballerina Maria Tallchief waited for her cue in the wings of the City Center in downtown Manhattan, preparing to take the stage in the New York City Ballet’s premiere of “Firebird.”

This production was a reimagining of a famous ballet based on a Russian folktale and featured an Osage ballerina who forced the dance world to reimagine who could be one of their biggest stars. In that moment, Tallchief had no idea that she was about to make history, not only for the New York City Ballet, but in her journey toward becoming America’s first prima ballerina.

To be a prima ballerina, or the female “first principal dancer” of a company, is to be recognized for one’s superior technique, artistry, and stage presence, and Tallchief’s “electrifying appearance” as the Firebird reflected her mastery of these elements.

In my work as a professor of Indigenous literatures and cultures, I often introduce my students to works and artists that they’ve never heard of before, including Maria Tallchief. This November, in honor of Native American Heritage Month and in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the New York City Ballet’s “Firebird” premiere, I want to highlight the integral role that Tallchief played in bringing ballet to the United States.

She and her younger sister Marjorie were both acclaimed ballerinas who dazzled audiences around the globe from the 1940s-1960s, a time when most Americans wrongly assumed that Indigenous people were unable to participate in modern life. During this era, Congress passed legislation aimed at erasing Indigenous nations’ rights of self-governance, and scholars contributed to the stereotype that Indigenous people would lose their cultural and political traditions.

Artists like the Tallchief sisters rejected those stereotypes in vivid motion, pursuing their passion for dance while honoring their shared heritage.

Tallchief was born Elizabeth “Betty” Maria Tall Chief on Jan. 24, 1925, in Fairfax, Oklahoma. Her parents were Ruth Porter and Alexander Tall Chief, and she was raised in a prominent family steeped in Osage traditions.

As young girls, Maria and Marjorie both showed an aptitude for dance, and the family decided to move to California to access the best teachers to train them. The Tallchief girls, who by then had joined their two last names, excelled under their new instructors, and Maria would go on to join the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a prestigious dance company that traveled throughout Europe and the United States.

She excelled in Ballet Russe’s corps de ballet (ensemble dancers), mastering the technique and stage presence necessary to earn