The Tragic Real-Life Story Of The First Native American Prima Ballerina

The first time Maria Tallchief performed as lead in a ballet was not a result of her purposely landing the role. In fact, she felt wildly unprepared and "numb with terror," as she described in her autobiography. Tallchief was the understudy for a lead ballerina who often threatened to not perform over money arguments. Typically, Tallchief was used as a pawn to keep the dancer from leaving, but then one Easter, the ballerina actually left, and Tallchief was forced to perform. Unprepared and terrified, Tallchief barely remembers the ballet but notes it as a significant moment where she felt accomplished and proud. 

At the same time, though, there were likely fellow dancers who resented her for it. The Washington Post describes how the relationship between Russian and American dancers was tense, with Tallchief becoming a target after being favored for the understudy role. According to the National Women's History Museum, Tallchief took ballet lessons from Bronislava Nijinska, a legendary Russian ballerina and choreographer who had the amazing timing of opening a studio right near Beverly Hills when Tallchief was 12. As fate would have it, after Tallchief moved to New York to dance for the Ballet Russe, Nijinska suddenly showed up to help the company on their performance of her ballet, Chopin Concerto. With her past star pupil there, she pushed for Tallchief to be the understudy, a move that royally pissed off her non-American fellow dancers. 

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