11 Chapter 10 New Loves and Sad Farewells

Chapter 10 New Loves and Sad Farewells In 1953, Maria was the most famous ballerina in the world. She met the president of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower. Her photograph appeared in newspapers and on the cover of magazines as America's "Woman of the Year." She even danced on television many times.

A young man who became her partner admitted he was afraid of dancing with the great Maria Tallchief. "I don't bite, you know," Maria told him. "Miss Tallchief," he answered, "I'm not afraid of you biting me. I am afraid I'll knock you off pointe." Maria laughed. "You're not strong enough to knock me off pointe!" One man, however, did sweep Maria off her feet. His name was Henry Paschen. Everyone called him Buzz. He was not a dancer. He had never even been to a ballet. Once he saw Maria perform in Firebird, however, he could not take his eyes from her. Maria felt the same attraction. "His sky blue eyes made my heart stop whenever I

looked into them," she said. They married in June of 1956. A few years later, another love came into Maria's life . . . her daughter Elise was born. "I don't think I'll ever forget the feeling of seeing that beautiful child when they brought her to me for the first time," Maria wrote in her autobiography. "She had black hair, long and silky, and I thought 'She's truly an American-Indian baby.' When I held her in my arms and her eyes looked into mine, I thought 'This is heaven.'"

Days later at home with her new baby, Maria slipped into her toe shoes and laced them. Her father was visiting. He said, "You have a husband and a baby now. You ought to be content." "I am content, Daddy," she answered. "Then it's time to put those shoes away for good." Stop dancing? "Never!" she told her father. "I have to dance." Joseph Tall Chief knew his daughter was every bit as stubborn as he was. He said nothing more about it.

Maria had everything she had wanted: an exciting career and a beautiful family. Her sister, Marjorie's life seemed enchanted, too. She and her husband had joined the Paris Opera Ballet, and they had twin children. And yet, sadness and loss comes into every life. A few months after Elise was born, Maria's father became dangerously ill. The doctors in Fairfax did not know how to make him well again. Maria turned to the one person who had always been there to help her and who

was still a very dear friend, George Balanchine. "I'm so afraid," she told him. George was always the calm spot in the center of a storm. He told Maria to bring her father to Chicago and let the doctors there examine him. Maria made all the arrangements. Within days, her father and mother had arrived. Maria tried to mask her shock at seeing him. Her father had always seemed a giant to her. Now, his body sagged from sickness. His eyes were cloudy. His skin was yellowish. The doctors in Chicago offered little hope. Joseph Tall Chief died in October 1959. As he had wished, his family buried him in the cemetery in Fairfax among the other Tall Chief graves. Maria's grief ran very