Maria Tallchief Prima Ballerina

Maria Tallchief Prima Ballerina

A National Treasure Maria Tallchief holds a special place in dance history. She was the first American prima ballerina, or leading female ballet dancer. Maria Tallchief lived at a time when all the famous ballet dancers were from Europe. Because of her talent and hard work, she became American ballet's first shining star. She also helped ballet become popular in the United States. Her story begins on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma.

Early Years Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief was born on January 24, 1925, in Fairfax, Oklahoma. As a child, she was called Betty Marie. Her father was Native American, from the Osage (OH-sayj) tribe, and her mother was white. The family lived on the Osage reservation-land set aside for the Osage people. When Betty Marie's father was young, he became rich because oil was found on the reservation.

Betty Marie had a younger sister named Marjorie. Their mother saw that the sisters had a gift with music. Both girls took piano and dance lessons from an early age. In 1933, at the age of eight, Betty Marie and her family moved to Los Angeles. There was more opportunity for the girls to study dance in California. They found a dance school even before buying a house. The girls studied ballet, tumbling, tap dancing, and Spanish dancing.

At age twelve, Betty Marie decided to stop piano lessons and just study ballet. Soon after, she became a student of Madame Nijinska (nuh-JIN-skuh), her first important ballet teacher. Betty Marie studied with her from 1937 until 1942. During that time, Betty Marie learned to dance with power, grace, and feeling. By the time she finished high school in 1942, she knew that ballet was the right path for her.

New York: A Star Is Born In 1938, a Russian ballet company performed all over the United States. They were based in New York City. When they came to Los Angeles, Betty Marie saw great ballet for the first time. She became even more excited about ballet as a career. Betty Marie moved to New York after finishing high school. She got a job with the Russian ballet company she had seen and changed her name to Maria Tallchief.