Maria Tallchief (24 January 1925, Fairfax, Oklahoma — 11 April 2013, Chicago, Illinois), also known as
Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief and under her native name,
𐓏𐒰𐓐𐒿𐒷-𐓍𐓂͘𐓄𐒰 (𐒼𐒱𐒹𐒻𐒼𐒰-𐓆𐓈𐒷𐓊𐒷, "
Ki He Kah Stah Tsa" — meaning "Two-Standards"), was a distinguished American ballerina, mother of the poet
Elise Paschen, and ex-wife of choreographer
George Balanchine. Widely renowned as the most technically accomplished ballerina in US history, Maria was the first Native American to reach top-tier success in choreography. She came to prominence as the
New York City Ballet's prima, leading the troupe for 18 years. Tallchief became an active ballet promoter after retiring from her dancing career in 1966. She was the
Lyric Opera of Chicago's ballet director in the 1970s and founded the
Chicago City Ballet in 1981, serving as its inaugural artistic director for six years. Marie Tallchief was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996 and earned the American National Medal of the Arts (1999) from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Name variations: Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief, Maria Tallchief Paschen, Maria Tallchief Balanchine, Elizabeth Kahikascee, Elizabeth Kixekaxstaxca, Waxleðǫpa, Wa-Xthe-Thonba.
Maria was born in Oklahoma to the Osage Nation tribe chief; her mother was of Scottish-Irish descent. She exhibited natural talent and began taking dance lessons at three. In 1933, the Tall Chief family relocated to Los Angeles to pursue better educational opportunities for Marie and her younger sister,
Marjorie Louise Tall Chief (1926—2021), who also became a renowned ballerina. In 1942, seventeen-year-old Maria graduated from Beverly Hills High School, scoring her first minor film role the following year in [url=https://discogs.com/label/247112]MGM[/url]'s musical comedy
Presenting Lily Mars, directed by
Norman Taurog, produced by
Joe Pasternak, and starring
Judy Garland with
Van Heflin. Dissatisfied with her movie set experience, Marie Tallchief soon relocated to New York City to pursue ballet dancing. She contacted impresario
Sergei J. Denham (1897—1970),
Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo director, who hired Maria almost immediately — thanks, in part, to her American passport, a notable advantage compared to the rest of the troupe, predominantly consisting of Russian émigrés who required visas for the upcoming Canadian tour.
Tallchief performed with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo for five years, where she first met George Balanchine; they married in August 1946. Marie became the leading dancer of the
New York City Ballet co-founded by Balanchine at the [url=https://discogs.com/label/562929]City Center of Music and Drama[/url]. She came to international prominence starring in
Igor Stravinsky's 1949
Firebird ballet, solidifying her status as the nation's leading prima with "Sugarplum Fairy" role in [url=https://discogs.com/artist/999914]Tchaikovsky[/url]'s
Nutcracker (1954); Tallchief's performance helped to elevate the relatively obscure ballet to the long-lasting Christmas season classic and one of American box office bestsellers. After divorcing Balanchine in June 1951, Marie soon remarried to airplane pilot Elmourza "Elmo" Natirboff (1925—2012), with their union lasting less than two years. In 1956, Maria Tallchief married for the third time to entrepreneur Henry Daniel "Buzz" Paschen Jr. (1927—2004); they had one daughter,
Elise Paschen, and remained together until his death.
