Maria Tallchief, Prima Ballerina from Oklahoma, has passed away.

[FreeThinker]

Maria Tallchief, one of the great prima ballerinas of the Twentieth Century, has passed away at the age of eighty-eight. My grandmother was a personal friend of the Tallchief family and knew Maria and her sister, Marjorie, also a ballerina. Maria trained at the School of American Ballet and danced with the Ballet Russe and the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine. She was one of the first Native Americans to achieve acclaim in ballet. A statue in her honor and four other great Oklahoma ballerinas, Marjorie Tallchief, Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, and Mocelyne Larkin (founder of Tulsa Ballet). stands in front of the Tulsa Historical Society.

http://newsok.com/no...article/3785651

[Merkin]

She was probably the first prima I ever saw dance, and she captured my heart for the ballet. I admired her graceful dignity, both on and off stage.