Maria Tallchief

Also known as Elizabeth Maria Tallchief, Elizabeth Tallchief, Betty Tallchief

American ballerina (1925–2013)

Film & TV

Fairfax - Oklahoma - USA

Maria Tallchief, born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief, was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American to hold the rank, and is said to have revolutionized ballet. Almost from birth, Tallchief was involved in dance, starting formal lessons at age three. When she was eight, her family relocated from her birth home of Fairfax,…

Known for

Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas — Herself1989
The Kennedy Center Honors — Self1978
The Bell Telephone Hour — Self1959
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show — Self1956
Million Dollar Mermaid — Pavlova1952
Your Show of Shows1950
The Ed Sullivan Show — Self1948

via TMDB

Key facts

Born: Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief , ( 1925-01-24 ) January 24, 1925, Fairfax, Oklahoma , U.S.
Died: April 11, 2013 (2013-04-11) (aged 88), Chicago , Illinois , U.S.
Occupation: Prima ballerina
Years active: 1942–1966
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Spouses: George Balanchine , ( married"}]]}'>m. 1946 ; annulled"}]]}'>ann. 1952 ) Elmourza Natirboff, ( married"}]]}'>m. 1952 ; divorced"}]]}'>div. 1954 ) Henry D. Paschen Jr., ( married"}]]}'>m. 1956 ; died 2004 )
Children: Elise Paschen
Former groups: Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo , New York City Ballet
Dances: Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine's Nutcracker Title character in Balanchine's Firebird

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Maria
Gender: female
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Fairfax
Place of death: Chicago
Sibling: Marjorie Tallchief
Occupation: ballet dancer
Educated at: School of American Ballet
Languages spoken: English language
Award: Kennedy Center Honors
Image: Maria Tallchief 1961.png

Show 7 more facts

Commons category: Maria Tallchief
date of birth: 1925-01-24
date of death: 2013-04-11
birth name: Элизабет Мэри Тол Чиф
ethnic group: Osage Nation
start of work period: 1942-00-00
end of work period: 1966-00-00

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~33 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Maria Tallchief, born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief (𐓏𐒰𐓐𐒿𐒷-𐓍𐓂͘𐓄𐒰 "Two-Standards"; Osage family name: Ki He Kah Stah Tsa, Osage script: 𐒼𐒱𐒹𐒻𐒼𐒰-𐓆𐓈𐒷𐓊𐒷; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013), was an Osage ballerina. She was America's first major prima ballerina and the first Native American to hold the rank. Together with Georgian-American choreographer George Balanchine, she is widely considered to have revolutionized American ballet.

Early life

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Maria Tallchief” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.