Maria Tallchief Prima Ballerina

Maria Tallchief. Prima Ballerina. Written by Kira Freed and Charlie Allelkoy. Focus Question. Who was Maria Tallchief? And why is she an important figure in ballet?

玛丽亚·托尔切夫。 首席芭蕾大师。 作者：基拉·弗里德、查理·阿列科伊。 思考问题。 玛丽亚·托尔切夫是谁？ 她为什么在芭蕾领域这么重要呢？

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.

一位国宝级舞者。 玛丽亚·托尔切夫在舞蹈史上占有独特的位置。 她是美国第一位首席芭蕾舞女演员，也就是领衔女主芭蕾舞者。 在玛丽亚生活的年代，知名芭蕾舞者全都来自欧洲。 凭借天赋与努力，她成了美国芭蕾界第一位闪耀的明星。 她还推动了芭蕾在美国的普及。 她的故事，要从俄克拉荷马州的印第安保留地说起。

early years. Elizabeth Marie Tallchief 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 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.

早年生活。 伊丽莎白·玛丽亚·托尔切夫，1925年1月24日出生于俄克拉荷马州费尔法克斯。 小时候大家都叫她贝蒂·玛丽。 爸爸是欧塞奇族的印第安人，妈妈是白人。 一家人住在欧塞奇保留地。 那是专门划给欧塞奇族人的土地。 贝蒂父亲年轻时，因为保留地发现石油，家里变得富裕起来。

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.

贝蒂·玛丽有个妹妹叫玛乔丽。 妈妈发现姐妹俩都很有音乐天赋。 姐妹俩从小就学习钢琴和舞蹈。 1933年，八岁的贝蒂·玛丽和全家搬到了洛杉矶。 在加利福尼亚，姐妹俩能获得更多学习舞蹈的机会。 他们还没买房子，就先找好了舞蹈学校。 姐妹俩学习了芭蕾、翻腾、踢踏舞还有西班牙舞。

At age 12, Betty Marie decided to stop piano lessons and just study ballet. Soon after, she became a student of Madame Nijinska, 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.

十二岁那年，贝蒂·玛丽决定停掉钢琴课，专心学习芭蕾。 没过多久，她成了尼金斯卡夫人的学生，这是她第一位重要的芭蕾老师。 从1937年到1942年，贝蒂·玛丽一直跟着她学习。 这段时间里，贝蒂学会了带着力量、优雅与情感跳舞。 1942年高中毕业时，她已经确定芭蕾就是自己要走的路。

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.

纽约，明星诞生。 1938年，一个俄罗斯芭蕾舞团在美国各地巡演。 他们的总部设在纽约市。 舞团来到洛杉矶时，贝蒂第一次见到了真正精彩的芭蕾。 这让她更渴望把芭蕾当成自己的事业。 高中毕业后，贝蒂·玛丽搬到了纽约。 她进入了曾经看过演出的俄罗斯芭蕾舞团工作，还改名为玛丽亚·托尔切夫。