Maria Tallchief Prima Ballerina

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

玛丽亚·托尔切夫。 首席芭蕾舞女演员。 作者：基拉·弗里德。 以及查理·阿利科伊。 思考问题。 玛丽亚·托尔切夫是谁？ 她为什么是芭蕾界举足轻重的人物？

a national treasure. The date was September 29, 1999. The place was Washington, D .C. The event was the award ceremony for the National Medal of Arts. This award is the highest honor given to an artist by a U .S. president. One of the people awarded that year was Maria Tallchief. A tall, elegant dancer, she had taken the world of ballet by storm fifty years earlier. How did Tallchief become American Ballet's first shining star? Her story begins on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma.

一国瑰宝。 那一天是1999年9月29日。 地点是华盛顿哥伦比亚特区。 这场活动是国家艺术勋章的颁奖仪式。 这个奖项是美国总统授予艺术家的最高荣誉。 那一年的获奖者之一正是玛丽亚·托尔切夫。 这位高挑优雅的舞者，早在五十年前就惊艳了整个芭蕾界。 托尔切夫是如何成为美国芭蕾的第一颗耀眼明星的？ 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, nicknamed Betty Marie, was born on January 24, 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma. She was born on the Osage Reservation, and her father, Alexander, was full -blooded Osage. Oil found on Osage land when he was young made many members of the tribe rich. As an adult, Alexander owned a large amount of property in Fairfax. Betty Marie's mother, Ruth, came from Scottish and Irish settlers. She saw that Betty Marie her younger sister Marjorie had a musical gift. Both girls took piano and dance lessons from an early age.

早年时光。 伊丽莎白·玛丽亚·托尔切夫，小名贝蒂·玛丽，1925年1月24日出生于俄克拉荷马州费尔法克斯。 她出生在欧塞奇族保留地，父亲亚历山大是纯种欧塞奇人。 他年轻时，欧塞奇族的土地发现了石油，许多部落成员因此致富。 成年后，亚历山大在费尔法克斯拥有大量地产。 贝蒂·玛丽的母亲露丝，是苏格兰和爱尔兰移民后裔。 她发现贝蒂·玛丽和小女儿玛乔丽都拥有音乐天赋。 姐妹俩从小就学习钢琴和舞蹈。

In 1933, when Betty Marie was eight, her parents decided to move the family to Los Angeles. They thought the girls needed a better education than Fairfax offered. When they moved, they found a dance school even before buying a house. The girls studied ballet, tap dancing, acrobatics, and Spanish dancing. Before long, Betty Marie and Marjorie were dancing at rodeos and county fairs. Both girls disliked the fake Native American dance routine they sometimes performed. It was an example of the stereotypes many people had about Native Americans.

1933年，八岁的贝蒂·玛丽，父母决定举家搬到洛杉矶。 他们认为女孩们能在这里获得比费尔法克斯更好的教育。 搬家后，她们还没买房子，就先找好了舞蹈学校。 女孩们学习芭蕾、踢踏舞、杂技和西班牙舞。 没过多久，贝蒂·玛丽和玛乔丽就开始在牛仔竞技会和县集市表演了。 姐妹俩都很讨厌有时要表演的假印第安舞蹈套路。 这正是许多人对印第安人刻板印象的一个典型例子。

At age 12, Betty Marie decided to stop piano lessons and just study ballet. That's when her life as a dancer really began. Soon after, she became a student of Bronislava Nijinska, her first important ballet teacher. Betty Marie studied with Madame Nijinska from 1937 until 1942. During that time, she 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.

十二岁时，贝蒂·玛丽决定停掉钢琴课，专心学习芭蕾。 从这时起，她真正开启了舞者生涯。 不久后，她拜布罗尼斯拉娃·尼金斯卡为师，这是她第一位重要的芭蕾老师。 从1937年到1942年，贝蒂·玛丽都跟着尼金斯卡夫人学习。 这段时间里，她学会了跳出力量、优雅与情感。 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. When Betty Marie was a teenager, all the well -known ballet dancers were Russian. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a Russian ballet company that often performed in the United States. The company, which was based in New York, came to Los Angeles in 1938. Betty Marie attended all their performances and saw great ballet dancers for the first time. She was amazed. After Betty Marie graduated, she went to New York. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo hired her as a dancer almost immediately. At that point, she changed her name to Maria Tallchief.

纽约，新星诞生。 贝蒂·玛丽少年时期，所有知名的芭蕾舞者都是俄罗斯人。 蒙特卡洛俄罗斯芭蕾舞团是一支常在美国演出的俄罗斯芭蕾舞团。 这家总部位于纽约的舞团，1938年来到了洛杉矶。 贝蒂·玛丽看了他们所有的演出，第一次见到了顶尖的芭蕾舞者。 她深深被震撼了。 贝蒂·玛丽毕业后，动身前往纽约。 蒙特卡洛俄罗斯芭蕾舞团几乎立刻就聘用了她。 就在这时，她改名为玛丽亚·托尔切夫。