The Life of Maria Tallchief

The Life of Maria Tallchief

By Addison McClure

          One interesting book I have read is America's Prima Ballerina by Maria Tallchief. This autobiography follows the life of the famous dancer through her career and personal life. She began lessons in the arts around the age of three. Her father was Osage Native American and her mother was from Kansas with Scottish and Irish heritage, so she grew up on a reservation in Fairfax Oklahoma. She endured some hardships as a child including having to deal with her father's alcoholism which would lead to bad arguments between her parents. Her brother was also born with rickets and suffered a head injury from an accident when he was four. Despite this she still continued to pursue her love for dancing and performing.  

        

          If your interested in any sort of performing arts, this would be an intriguing book for you. Maria Tallchief was part of bringing ballet to America and brought many of George Balanchine's ballets to life. Just for reference, George Balanchine was a famous choreographer who co-founded the New York City Ballet. Balanchine and Maria Tallchief were actually married at one point. She was pretty young though and he was in his forties which was a little unsettling, but she talks fondly of him in her book and they seemed to have a good relationship even after divorcing. Anyways, her perspective on performing is fascinating to read about because she can describe in great detail how even the smallest steps made her feel. For example she describes a important lift in Swan Lake where she had to step onto her partner's thigh, take his hand, and extends her leg into an arabesque. The fact that she can recall this very moment is amazing. 

          Another important aspect of the book is Maria discussing what it was like to be Native American in a predominantly white career. At a school she attended, the teacher made her and her sister dance an "Indian dance" that made them both uncomfortable. They were forced to wear stereotypical costumes that were not at all representative of their culture and Maria says she was relieved when she was finished. She also faced racism outside of dance. Students would make fun of her last name which made her want to change it. They would also make war calls and ask her why she was not wearing feathers. I think it is important to understand how much this impacted her especially because she was young when these incidents occurred. There is a history of racism in ballet including incorrect portrayal of different cultures so her being able to openly discuss this is super important. 

          While I did feel that the book moved somewhat slow, I also understand that she is trying to be detailed and she can't really just summarize her life. I found her accounts of performing, training, and her own struggles with her image to be inspiring. I appreciate how open she is about her performances that didn't go well and her hardships in becoming one of the first prima ballerinas in America. You can tell in her writing that ballet was her biggest passion and I love her perspective on the ballet community.