Just before the premiere of Firebird, ballerina Maria Tallchief sensed disaster. She was to dance the title role, but a recent tonsillectomy had left her drained and sluggish. During the final dress rehearsal, a flying lift with partner Francisco Moncion had gone poorly, upsetting Moncion. Tallchief鈥檚 costume arrived from designer Barbara Karinska鈥檚 studio only a few hours before showtime, and neither Karinska nor George Balanchine were happy with the way it fit. The mood backstage at the then-fledgling New York City Ballet was tense.
But when the New York City Center curtain rose on November 27, 1949, Firebird seemed to cohere around Tallchief鈥檚 bravura performance. Her cool elegance brought glamor and mystery to Balanchine鈥檚 pyrotechnical choreography. In the shimmering Berceuse solo, her eloquent arms and hands held the audience spellbound. (鈥淧ort de bras [is] the soul of the dancer,鈥� Tallchief said in the documentary Dancing for Mr. B.) At the end of the ballet, audience members screamed and stomped their feet, shouting 鈥淭allchief! Tallchief!鈥�
Years later, Balanchine would tell Tallchief鈥檚 daughter, the poet Elise Paschen, that without Firebird鈥檚 success, New York City Ballet would not have survived. And 鈥渢he reason it was so good,鈥� he said to Paschen, 鈥渋s because your mother was so wonderful in it.鈥�
Much of Balanchine鈥檚 grand vision for American ballet crystallized in Tallchief鈥檚 dancing. She was New York City Ballet鈥檚 first big star, and one of the first American-born ballerinas to receive international acclaim. In her speed and daring, her power and grandeur, Balanchine saw America. In her Native American heritage, too: Tallchief鈥檚 father was Osage, which fascinated Balanchine. When Balanchine and Tallchief married in 1946, he told her he 鈥渇inally felt like a real American,鈥� she wrote in her memoir.
Wife, muse, symbol: They must have been complicated roles to inhabit simultaneously. But Tallchief was always proud to be Osage, and, as one of the first Native American ballerinas, became both a trailblazer and a role model. Early in her career, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo director Sergei Denham asked her to Russify her last name, as was then the fashion, to Tallchieva; she refused. In 1953, the Osage Tribal Council gave her the title Princess Wa-Xthe-Thonba, or Two Standards鈥攔eflecting her life in two worlds, as a member of the Osage Nation and as a ballet dancer.
鈥淚 think she upended America鈥檚 notion of what ballet was, and who a ballerina was,鈥� Paschen said. Tallchief and Balanchine ended their marriage in 1950, but he continued to create ballets showcasing her remarkable range.
She was an invincible virtuoso in 1950鈥檚 Sylvia: Pas de Deux, a tour de force that requires the ballerina to do 鈥渆verything short of back flips,鈥� as the critic Walter Terry wrote. In 1952鈥檚 Scotch Symphony, which evokes the Romantic ballet La Sylphide, Balanchine highlighted her softness and vulnerability; the ballet鈥檚 heroine is not a conqueror but a dreamer.
Appearances on television and film brought Tallchief even more widespread popularity. She danced the Sylvia duet on CBS in 1951, wearing rubber strips on her pointe shoes to keep from slipping on the concrete studio floor. When she played ballerina Anna Pavlova in MGM鈥檚 1952 film Million Dollar Mermaid, the director and producer asked her to liven up Pavlova鈥檚 signature 鈥淒ying Swan鈥� variation by interpolating steps from Firebird. Tallchief鈥檚 first performance after giving birth to Paschen in 1959 was dancing Scotch Symphony on NBC鈥檚 Bell Telephone Hour.
Though Tallchief鈥檚 legacy extends beyond New York City Ballet鈥攕he also danced with several other companies鈥攁fter retiring from performance in 1966, she dedicated herself to the preservation of Balanchine鈥檚 legacy. Settling in Chicago, she founded the ballet school of the Chicago Lyric Opera, where she taught Balanchine鈥檚 technique. Later, she directed the Chicago City Ballet, which, though short-lived, had a repertory full of Balanchine ballets. The Firebird became a keeper of the flame. Tallchief, who died in 2013, would have turned 100 this year. Her influence remains pervasive, and her association with Balanchine indelible. The U.S. Mint released a Tallchief quarter in 2023, featuring an image of Tallchief in her Firebird costume and her name written in both English and Osage orthography. Last fall, Barbie introduced a Maria Tallchief doll, wearing a dress modeled after the Firebird tutu.
鈥淚t was her passion, her driving force, to translate the beauty of Balanchine鈥檚 choreography,鈥� Paschen says. 鈥淪he wanted to continue that tradition鈥攖o continue the trajectory of the work that had been instilled in her.鈥�
In honor of Maria Tallchief, NYCB will perform Scotch Symphony, Sylvia: Pas de Deux, and Firebird on Feb. 5, 8, 11, 13, and 18. Visit .
