Marjorie Tallchief

Marjorie Tallchief
Tallchief in 1956
Born
Marjorie Louise Tall Chief

(1926-10-19)October 19, 1926
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 2021(2021-11-30) (aged 95)
Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
OccupationBallerina
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1947; died 1981)​
Children2
Career
Former groupsParis Opera Ballet

Marjorie Tallchief (born Marjorie Louise Tall Chief; October 19, 1926 – November 30, 2021) was an American ballerina and member of the Osage Nation. She was the younger sister of prima ballerina Maria Tallchief and was the first Native American to be named "première danseuse étoile" in the Paris Opera Ballet.[1][2]

Early life

Tallchief was born October 19, 1926, in Denver, Colorado, while her parents, Alexander Tall Chief and his wife, Ruth (née Porter), were on a family vacation with her older siblings, brother Gerald and sister Maria.[3] She grew up in Fairfax, Oklahoma,[3] until 1933, when her family moved to Los Angeles so she and her sister could train in ballet dancing. She trained with Bronislava Nijinska and David Lichine.[1][2] Her father was a member of the Osage Nation, while her mother was of Scottish-Irish descent.[4]

Career

After completing her training in Los Angeles, Tallchief began performing for several dance companies. In the book American Indian Ballerinas, Lili Cockerille Livingston wrote that Tallchief had her professional debut with Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant's Ballet Theatre as a first year soloist, in 1944. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, these included: "the American Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1946–47), the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (1948–55), Ruth Page's Chicago Opera Ballet (guest artist, 1958–62), and the Harkness Ballet (prima ballerina, 1964–66). Her most acclaimed roles were performed in Night Shadow (1950), Annabel Lee (1951), Idylle (1954), Romeo and Juliet (1955), and Giselle (1957)."[1]

Tallchief was the first American and Native American to be "première danseuse étoile" of the Paris Opera Ballet and performed with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas.[5] During her career she also performed for dignitaries such as U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and French President Charles de Gaulle.[6] Tallchief taught at Dallas Civic Ballet Academy, later known as the Dallas Ballet.[7] After her retirement from the stage, she acted as a dance director for the Dallas Ballet, the Chicago Ballet School, and the Harid Conservatory until 1993.[5][8] She and her sister Maria also co-founded the Chicago City Ballet in 1980.[3]

Accolades

In 1991, Tallchief was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.[9] In October 1997, she and her elder sister Maria, along with Moscelyne Larkin, Rosella Hightower, and Yvonne Chouteau, were named Oklahoma Treasures at the Governor's Arts Awards.[10] A bronze statue of her along with the other Five Moons were unveiled in 2007 on the grounds of the Tulsa Historical Society.[11]

Personal life

Tallchief had two children with her husband, the director and choreographer George Skibine, whom she married in 1947.[3] She lived in Boca Raton, Florida,[2] where she died on November 30, 2021, at the age of 95.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Short, Candy Franklin. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Marjorie Tallchief." Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Profile of Marjorie Tallchief, Oklahoma State University library archives Archived August 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b c d "Tallchief, Marjorie (1927–)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 2, Yorkin Publications, 2007, p. 1830. Gale eBooks. Accessed December 7, 2021.
  4. ^ Anderson, Jack (April 12, 2013). "Maria Tallchief, a Dazzling Ballerina and Muse for Balanchine, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "The first step 32 students start dance training at Harid Conservatory..." Boca Raton News. September 13, 1988. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  6. ^ a b Farris, Emily (December 6, 2021). "Marjorie Tallchief, famous Native American prima ballerina, dies". KJRH. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  7. ^ Cocker Livingston, Lili (1997). American Indian ballerinas. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806128968. OCLC 44965168.
  8. ^ "Breathing life through dance". Tulsa World. July 15, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  9. ^ "Skibine, Marjorie Tallchief | 1991". oklahomahof.com. Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  10. ^ James D. Watts Jr. (October 8, 1997). "Oklahoma's Indian Ballerinas To Be Honored as Treasures". Tulsa World. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  11. ^ "A statue of a Native American ballerina that was stolen in Tulsa will be restored". NPR. Associated Press. May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.