Who Was Maria Tallchief? [Paperback]

Born in 1925, Maria Tallchief spent part of her childhood on an Osage reservation in Oklahoma. With the support of her family and world-renowned choreographer George Balanchine, she rose to the top of her art form to become America's first prima ballerina. Black-and-white illustrations provide visual sidebars to the history of ballet while taking readers through the life of this amazing dancer.Catherine Gourley is an award-winning author and editor of books for children and young adults. Many of her nonfiction books explore the media and popular culture, including women issues.  At present, she is the project director for Letters About Literature, a reading and writing promotion program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and is the principal curriculum writer for The Story of Movies, a visual literacy educational outreach program of the The Film Foundation, Los Angeles.  She lives in Pennsylvania.

Who Was
Maria Tallchief?

Who Was
Maria Tallchief?

Who Was Maria Tallchief?

Maria Tallchief was a ballerina, but she was not just another toe-dancer. She was America’s first prima ballerina. A prima ballerina is the star of the show, the very best dancer on the stage. Maria danced for kings and queens and presidents. She thrilled her audiences with amazing leaps and arabesques. Her performances as a swan queen, a sugar plum fairy, and a magical firebird stand out as some of the most beautiful chapters in American ballet history.

She was a Native American, the daughter of a full-blooded Osage. Maria’s story begins on the Osage reservation in the rolling hills of northeastern Oklahoma. As a child, the beat of the tom-toms excited her. The rhythm of the drums filled the hollow of her bones. The songs of her people’s past woke within her a love of dance and the prima ballerina she would one day become.

Chapter 1
The Osage Reservation

Maria opened her eyes.l³+