The Tragic Real-Life Story Of The First Native American Prima Ballerina Baron/Getty Images
By Therese Nguyen/Feb. 8, 2021 2:43 pm EDT
It was the mid-1900s, and ballet was dominated by Russian and European ballerinas. According to the National Women s History Museum, the United States was far from having a strong ballet culture, and there were no prima ballerinas that were American. That is, until Maria Tallchief. Her talent, athleticism, and shining performances revolutionized ballet and helped thrust American ballet to the international stage, earning praise and acknowledgment from all across the world from the 1940s to 1960s. A proud member of the Osage Nation, Tallchief was both the first American prima ballerina and the first Native American prima ballerina. Throughout her life, she would earn prestigious awards and accolades not just in ballet and dance but in honoring her roots as an Oklahoman Osage, such as with her induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame