Commanding prima ballerina of Native American descent who dazzled audiences and inspired the choreographer George Balanchine
Maria Tallchief was one of America’s first ballerinas. At a time when ballet was largely perceived as a foreign — especially Russian — art-form, she had a pure-blood Osage father and belonged to a small but prominent band of part-Native American dancers.
The first and oldest of these, Rosella Hightower, achieved her greatest fame in Europe, as did Marjorie Tallchief, Maria’s younger sister. But Maria was, during her best years, considered America’s most technically accomplished ballerina. As George Balanchine’s muse for almost a decade, she appeared in most of his ballets and was New York City Ballet’s first star. Her style, refined