Legendary Ballerina Maria Tallchief Dies

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 12, 2013 7:40PM

Maria Tallchief, one of the 20th century's most influential dancers and the first Native American to become prima ballerina of a major American ballet company, died Friday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She was 88.

Ms. Tallchief was born in Fairfax, Okla. January 24, 1925 to a Scots-Irish mother and a father who was a chief in the Osage Nation. Ms. Tallchief’s career spanned 23 years from 1942 - 1965, first as a featured dancer with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and later with the New York City Ballet, where she was principal ballerina from 1947 to 1960. She was married to legendary New York City Ballet choreographer George Balanchine from 1946 until 1950, although the two continued to work together. Among Ms. Tallchief’s most famous roles was the origination of the sugarplum fairy in Balanchine’s version of The Nutcracker in 1954.

After she retired from the stage, Ms. Tallchief worked as director of the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet from 1973 to 1979 and, with her sister Marjorie (also an acclaimed ballerina), formed the Chicago City Ballet in 1981 and was its artistic director until 1987. She was the artistic director of the Chicago Ballet Festival, founded by her protégé Kenneth von Heidecke, from 1990 until her death.

Von Heidecke told the Chicago Tribune Ms. Tallchief’s talents extended beyond dance.

"She brought to us a vast treasure of knowledge and expertise, even including the laws of physics that determined what we did and the spiritual aspects of our work."

Ms. Tallchief’s work in Chicago is widely regarded as the foundation for the city’s current dance scene and an inspiration for Joffrey Ballet to relocate to Chicago in 1990. Joffrey Ballet artistic director told Sun-Times theater critic Hedy Weiss she was an inspiriation for generations of dancers that followed.

“She really paved the way for dancers who were not in the traditional mold of ballet. And reaching such a high rank, she was crucial in breaking the stigma. She also was the spark behind much of the amazing work created by Balanchine. “When you watch Tallchief on video, you see that aside from the technical polish there is a burning passion she brought to her dancing. In her interpretation of Balanchine’s ‘Firebird,’ she was consumed both inside and out. She was not just a great dancer, but a real artist — a true interpreter who brought her personality to bear on the dancing. In regard to the Joffrey, she told me she hoped we would be able to bring the strongest dance education here, and also to do more Balanchine, which we plan to do.”

Below is video of Ms. Tallchief and Andre Eglevsky dancing a pas de deux in “Scotch Symphony.”

And here is video of Ms. Tallchief with Rudolf Nureyev in 1962. It would be Nureyev's American debut.