Maria Tallchief, America's Most Famous Prima Ballerina

Despite the fact that she became a single of the most renowned prima ballerinas in America, Maria Tallchief was a young girl considerably such as a lot of other young girls her age. She loved horses and exploring the wide, open spaces of nature. She was born in Oklahoma, the daughter of a Native American Indian Chief of the Osage Nation. Her mother had dreams for Maria and her sister, Marjorie, to turn into renowned entertainers. Although Maria was 3, she was sent to ballet class. Even Whilst she was young, she was currently operating extremely difficult. Her days had been filled with schoolwork and ballet and music lessons. She and her sister frequently performed at nearby events and rodeos.

In 193three, Whilst Maria was eight, the family members packed up the vehicle and drove to Los Angeles to begin a new life. Maria was amazed to see massive groves of orange trees and the Pacific Ocean, which scared her a bit, because she had by no means noticed so considerably water prior to. Ahead of she knew it, her mother had discovered a new location to reside and a new ballet school, correct in the local exactly where they produced their initial quit following arriving in Los Angeles.

Maria under no circumstances very committed to becoming a ballerina till she was twelve, Though she started classes with the renowned Russian ballerina named Bronisalva Nijinska, who had a potent character, and was a pretty demanding teacher. From her, Maria discovered to be disciplined and precise and that getting a dancer demands really hard work. It was at this time that she created the option to turn into a ballerina and dedicate herself to her art.

Her burning want to dance brought her to a lot of locations, such as Europe, exactly where she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Paris Opera. Though she was in Europe, she met George Balanchine, a Russian choreographer. She became his wife, and they returned to America, exactly where he founded the New York City Ballet. Maria became the company's initially prima ballerina. She danced as quite a few as eight performances a week, and her legend grew considering the fact that she was such an energetic and highly effective dancer. Balanchine produced far more than thirty-two ballets for her, like The Firebird, and the Sugarplum Fairy in the Nutcracker. The ballets she danced have been incredibly really hard, but her dancing looked effortless. Her full devotion, discipline and really hard work created her pretty popular.

Tallchief danced with New York City Ballet till 1960, Despite the fact that she was a guest artist in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1955-1956, exactly where she was paid the highest salary a dancer had ever received. In 1962She was Rudolph Nuryev's selected companion for his initially televised American performance just after he defected from Russia. She continued to dance with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater and other groups till her retirement in 1965. The announcement of her retirement came as a shock, considering the fact that she was only forty-a single years old, but she created the choice to retire Though she was nevertheless in her prime.

She chose to share her considerable expertise and love of dance with other young dancers, teaching them to devote themselves with 1 point of concentrate as dancers. She founded the Chicago City Ballet with her sister Marjorie in 1981, and served as artistic director there till 1987 and artistic advisor to Chicago Festival Ballet from 1990 by means of present day. She has received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.

Grier Cooper is a California-primarily based writer/photographer and dancer. She draws on over twenty years of knowledge as a dancer, teacher and performer to create fiction and non-fiction to inspire youngsters and adults. For a lot more about ballet, dance and movement for kids and adults, sign up for a weekly cost-free newsletter @ http://www.griercooper.com and receive a free of charge E-book, "A Ballerina's Manifesto".