Maria Tallchief Centennial Celebration
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Maria Tallchief, widely regarded as America's first prima ballerina who, with choreographer George Balanchine, was credited with revolutionizing American ballet, would have been 100 years old today. In February, the New York City Ballet will celebrate Tallchief's centennial with a program featuring some of her most celebrated roles, including FIREBIRD, which brought her international stardom. GME commemorates Tallchief's centennial with these indelible photographs, taken by Jack Mitchell, of Tallchief's role in FIREBIRD, which capture the artist's poise, prowess, and star power in her signature role.
Tallchief was born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief into a prominent Osage family in Fairfax, Oklahoma. Displaying an aptitude for dance from a young age, she studied ballet with Bronislava Nijinska, before touring internationally with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the age of 17. George Balanchine began choreographing for the company in the mid-1940s, where he took notice of Tallchief's talent and made her his muse. Their personal and creative partnership was key to the formation of the New York City Ballet, which Balanchine co-founded with Lincoln Kirstein. In 1949, Tallchief performed FIREBIRD and, according to The New York Times, "redefined the role." Her widely acclaimed performance, which featured a "supernatural backbend... [in] the arms of Francisco Moncion's Prince Ivan" that elicited "a collective gasp" in the audience, helped to legitimize the New York City Ballet as a successful company.
Tallchief's success was groundbreaking for the time. In the 1940s and '50s, ballet was still widely regarded as a European art form. She therefore contended with the pressures of representation as an American ballerina among Europeans and, in her own country, as a Native American. Tallchief faced ostracization due to her Indigenous heritage and even changed her Osage surname "Tall Chief" to the more anglicized "Tallchief" (though she refused the Russian-sounding surnames "Tolchieva" or "Tallchieva"). Tallchief also broke ground as one of the first ballerinas to bring the art form to television. Her star ascended at the same time TVs were entering American homes. Tallchief understood the value of this medium and danced on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Bell Telephone Hour multiple times throughout the 1950s and '60s. Later, Tallchief was the recipient of the National Medal for the Arts, among other prestigious accolades.
As noted by Ashley Wheater, Artistic Director of the Joffrey, "When you watched Tallchief on video, you see that aside from the technical polish there is a burning passion she brought to her dancing. In her interpretation of Balanchine's FIREBIRD, she was consumed both inside and out. She was not just a great dancer, but a real artist — a true interpreter that brought her personality to bear on the dancing."
Over the course of his half century professional career, photographer Jack Mitchell chronicled a unique history of creators in the fields of dance, theatre, music, the fine arts, film, and television. The Estate of Jack Mitchell is exclusively represented by Gartenberg Media Enterprises, Inc. for placement of the archive and exhibition of his work. Please contact GME's Fine Arts Curator, David Deitch, at david@gartenbergmedia.com for inquiries related to the Mitchell photography collection.