Guest Post by Kate Jakubowski
In
The Geography of Genius, author Eric Weiner explains that geniuses
aren’t born—they’re made by the worlds they grew up in. Creativity is
influenced by culture, and that is why different clusters of gifted people have
emerged over time throughout different places in the world.[1]
That is why philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle thrived in Ancient Greece
and why much of the Western musical canon comes from Vienna, when Mozart,
Beethoven, and Hadyn were active composers in the late 18th and
early 19th centuries.
But one cluster Weiner omits is a group of gifted dancers that emerged in early-to-mid 20th century America—two groups of dancers, in fact. The Five Moons Ballerinas were a quintet of female dancers of Indigenous heritage, while two noted Russian choreographers, George Balanchine and Bronislava Nijinska, immigrated to the United States and influenced the next generation of aspiring ballerinas. At the nexus of these two groups is Maria Tallchief, America’s first prima ballerina, or principal ballet dancer. Tallchief’s road to that role was a result of her interaction with these two clusters of gifted dancers. Tallchief’s early traits of giftedness and training in classical music allowed her to truly embody the role of prima ballerina. Not only did her passion help pioneer groundbreaking roles and popularize ballets that are still performed today, but her interaction with other individuals shows the significance of environments that are both collaborative and creatively stimulating.
From a young age, Maria Tallchief was influenced by those around her. Born in 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma to an Osage father and Scottish-Irish mother, Tallchief’s family had big aspirations for her and her sister Marjorie from a young age. Tallchief’s mother, in particular, dreamed of Maria and Marjorie becoming musical film stars.[2] As a result, Maria began piano and ballet lessons at age 3.[3] In 1933, the Tallchiefs moved from Fairfax to Los Angeles so these dreams could become a reality. Maria had skipped two grades in Fairfax but was put back in third grade in an opportunity class for advanced learners as she continued “way ahead”[4] in her academic studies. Maria often wandered the schoolgrounds out of boredom.[5] Wanting to continuously move around can be seen as a trait of giftedness. Psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski identified five “overexcitabilities” (OE), or “[a] heightened ability to respond to stimuli,”[6] as indicator of giftedness. One of these overexcitabilities is psychomotor OE, or “a heightened excitability of the neuromuscular system.[7] From a young age, Maria Tallchief was active and energetic, which helped in her training to become a dancer.
At age 12, when working with choreographer and dancer Bronislava Nijinska, Tallchief realized she wanted to become a professional dancer. Bronislava Nijinska was born in Minsk in 1891 to parents who were also dancers.[8] At the age of 4, Nijinska made her professional debut in a Christmas pageant production.[9] After a stint with the Ballet Russes, a highly influential European dance company, Nijinska immigrated to the United States where she opened her own studio in Los Angeles. It was there that Tallchief began to study and helped her “understand that ballet was what I wanted to do with my life.”[10] As a result, after graduating high school at age 17, Tallchief left for New York to pursue her dreams. There she met another highly influential figure in ballet: George Balanchine.
Like Bronislava Nijinska, George Balanchine was also involved in the Ballet Russes; in fact, Balanchine was hired to replace Nijinska as “ballet master” after she left the company.[11] Balanchine was himself a dance and music prodigy; he began studying piano at the age of five and made his professional dance debut at the age of 10.[12] Balanchine is known as the "Father of American Ballet." He created a neoclassical style of ballet[13] that incorporated “musical, emotional, and individual elements.”[14] This was a departure from earlier ballet styles that relied on plot to drive the dance.[15] Along with his creative partner Lincoln Kirstein, Balanchine co-founded many of the most important ballet companies in the United States, including the Ballet Society in 1946 and the New York City Ballet in 1948.[16] Maria Tallchief would become America's first prima ballerina for the New York City Ballet.
When Maria Tallchief came to New York, it was perfect timing. Tallchief had worked with Nijinska, who had choreographed for the very same company Balanchine did in Europe; and Tallchief was also musically gifted like Balanchine. These factors led to a mutual understanding where they could communicate on the dance floor without words. Tallchief soon became prima ballerina for the Balanchine-directed New York City Ballet. Though Tallchief and Balanchine were married between 1946 and 1952, it didn’t impact their working relationship; as she notes in her memoir, “we saved our emotion for the classroom.”[17] Tallchief quickly catapulted to fame when she was cast in the titular role in The Firebird. Opening to rave reviews, John Martin wrote in the New York Times that “she dances it like a million dollars. On second thought, make that two million.”[18] Walter Terry, meanwhile, wrote that “Maria Tallchief gave a performance of historical proportions.”[19] Tallchief garnered raves for leading roles in productions such as Swan Lake and Orpheus. Tallchief would also be cast in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. It was this version choreographed by Balanchine that popularized the ballet and made it a holiday tradition.[20]
During her career, Tallchief was one of the world’s most famous ballerinas, evidenced through the many honors she received. She was named Woman of the Year twice by the Washington Press Club[21] and was honored by the Kennedy Center in 1996.[22] In 2023, she appeared on a US quarter as part of the American Women Quarters Program.[23] The quarter depicts her leaping gracefully along with the title “Wa Xthe-Thomba,” an Osage phrase which translates to “Woman of Two Standards.” Her grandmother gave her this nickname to represent her two identities: her Osage heritage and her professional dance career.[24] Throughout her life, Tallchief never compromised either of these sides. Even when pressured to change her name into something that sounded more Russian such as “Tallchieva”[25] to fit in with the other dancers, Tallchief refused, stating she was proud of her name.
Tallchief, along with four other professional dancers of Indigenous descent with a connection to Oklahoma in the 20th century, became known as the “Five Moons Ballerinas.” These include Tallchief’s sister, Majorie, who became the first woman of Osage descent to be given the highest dance rank of premiere danseuse etoile with the Paris Opera Ballet;[26] Yvonne Chouteau, who at age 14 became one of the youngest dancers ever accepted into the Ballet Russes;[27] Moscelyne Larkin, who was featured as a prima ballerina at Radio City Music Hall in New York City;[28] and Rosella Hightower, who became the first American director of the Paris Ballet in 1981.[29] These five dancers are honored in a portrait at the Oklahoma state capital building entitled “Flight of the Spirit.”[30] Indeed, their spirits took them to new, soaring heights in not just physical capacities but professional ones, as they broke barriers for not just women but for people of Indigenous descent.
Eric Weiner believes many factors contribute to the clusters of genius seen around the world in places from Vienna, Austria, to Silicon Valley in the United States. Perhaps, however, the most important factor is that the cultivation of genius begins at home. We can see this in our dance clusters studied here. Bronislava Nijinska and George Balanchine were both born in artistically gifted families which made it easier to pursue a career in that field. The same can be said of Moscylene Larkin of the Five Moons ballerinas, whose mother was a Russian ballet dancer. The other four Five Moons ballerinas, however, began from scratch. Yvonne Chateau was inspired to dance after seeing a performance in Oklahoma at age 4, while Maria and Marjorie launched as a result of their mother’s dream to of film stardom. These women were individually motivated and curious to become professional dancers and were not curbed by the obstacles that arose. When Maria wasn’t cast in the lead part at age 15 of Chopin Concerto for the Hollywood Bowl, Tallchief’s mother encouraged her to continue, telling her “you have to show that you want to dance with all your heart.”[31] Indeed, Maria Tallchief is at the beating heart of these clusters of genius, showing that unlike the “lonely, tortured soul” stereotype that often befalls many of the greats, genius isn’t something that is born from one individual—it is influenced by forces surrounding them.
In a 1946 issue of The Waterbury Democrat, the opinion editor asked a simple question: who is the most admirable person you can think of? Claire Bernier, a college student, replied: “The person who comes to my mind at the moment is Maria Tallchief, star of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Her dancing was not only impressive. She was a woman of great beauty, personal magnetism, and had a memorable expression. I’ll never forget her as long as I live.”[32] Indeed, Maria Tallchief built a career off her great beauty, personal magnetism, and memorable expression as America’s first prima ballerina. As a part of two clusters of dance genius, including those of European immigrants and the Five Moons ballerinas, Maria Tallchief shows the grit, resolve, and strength of both groups. Reflecting on her career, Tallchief once remarked, “I was in the middle of magic, in the presence of genius. Thank God I knew it.”[33] What she didn’t say, however, is even more telling: she wasn’t just in the middle of magic, she helped make it. And she wasn’t just in the presence of genius; she was a part of it. Though Maria Tallchief died in 2013, her influence today is still alive, and much like Claire Bernier suggested, Tallchief will never be forgotten because of the magic she created.
 |
Maria Tallchief and Frederic Franklin in an advertisement for the Ballet Russes’ 1955-1956 Grand Transcontinental Tour  |
[1] Eric Weiner, The Geography of Genius (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 2016), 8.
[2] Maria Tallchief and Larry Kaplan, Maria Tallchief:
America’s Prima Ballerina (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 10.
[3] Tallchief
and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 10.
[4] Tallchief
and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 13.
[5] Tallchief and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 14.
[6] Sharon Lind,
“Overexcitability and the Gifted,” SENG, September 14, 2011, https://www.sengifted.org/post/overexcitability-and-the-gifted.
[7] Lind, “Overexcitability
and the Gifted.”
[8] Nancy Van Norman Baer, Bronislava Nijinska: A Dancer’s
Legacy (San Francisco: The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, 1986), 16.
[9] Baer, Bronislava, 16.
[10] Tallchief and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 17.
[11] “George Balanchine,” New York City Ballet, accessed May 13,
2024, https://www.nycballet.com/discover/our-history/george-balanchine/.
[12] “George Balanchine,” New York City Ballet.
[13]
“American Ballet,” National Museum of American History,
Behring Center, accessed May 13, 2024, https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/american-ballet.
[14]
“American Ballet.”
[15]
“George Balanchine.”
[16] “George Balanchine.”
[17] Tallchief
and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 89.
[18] John Martin,
“City Ballet Scores in a New ‘Firebird,’” The New York Times, 22.
[19] Tallchief
and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 132.
[20] “The History
of the Nutcracker,” Dance Classics, December 6, 2018, https://danceclassicstn.com/the-history-of-the-nutcracker/#:~:text=The%201954%20production%20for%20the,based%20on%20George%20Balanchine's%20version.
[21] “Tallchief,
Elizabeth Maria,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture,
Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed May 14, 2024, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=TA006.
[22] “Ballerina
Maria Tallchief Performs for President John F. Kennedy,” The Kennedy Center,
accessed May 13, 2024, https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/center/other/2020/maria-tallchief/.
[23] “Maria
Tallchief Quarter,” United States Mint, accessed May 13, 2024, https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/maria-tallchief.
[24] “Maria
Tallchief Quarter.”
[25] Tallchief
and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 27.
[26] “Tallchief,
Marjorie Louise,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture,
Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed May 14, 2024, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TA007.
[27] Brandy McDonnell, “Yvonne Chouteau, One of Five American Indian Prima Ballerinas
from Oklahoma, Dies at 86,” The Oklahoman, January 27, 2016, https://www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/columns/brandy-mcdonnell/2016/01/27/yvonne-chouteau-one-of-five-american-indian-prima-ballerinas-from-oklahoma-dies-at-86/60696340007/.
[28] “Larkin,
Moscelyne (1925-2012),” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture,
Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed May 14, 2024, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=LA023.
[29] “Hightower,
Rosella (1920-2008),” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and
Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed May 14, 2024, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=HI003.
[30] Mick Hinton, “Indian Ballerinas Featured in Mural to Attend
Dedication,” The
Oklahoman,https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1991/11/04/indian-ballerinas-featured-in-mural-dancers-to-attend-dedication/62511975007/.
[31] Tallchief
and Kaplan, Maria Tallchief, 19.
[32] Claire
Bernier, “It’s My Opinion,” The Waterbury Democrat, July 23, 1946, 5, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014085/1946-07-23/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1945&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Maria+Tallchief&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=1&state=&date2=1956&proxtext=maria+tallchief&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=3.
[33] “Maria Tallchief,” Dance Magazine, April 30, 2013, https://www.dancemagazine.com/maria-tallchief-1925aeur-2013/.
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