Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina. Maria Tallchief with Rosemary Wells. Illus. by Gary Kelley. New York: VIKING, 1999. 28 pages. $15.99 (Hardcover). ISBN 0-670-88756-0. Grades PreK-3.
“What I needed to learn was how to be strong enough to dance for hours and delicate enough to break the human heart.” It was this realization and a passion for the music that flowed through Maria Tallchief that made her the greatest American-born ballerina of her time. Maria Tallchief was born on an Osage Indian Reservation in Oklahoma in 1925, and her loving parents recognized her gift from an early age. She was encouraged to pursue both piano and dance for many years in Fairfax, but when her family moved to Los Angeles in 1933 she decided ballet was her true passion. She enrolled in a renowned dance school where she was introduced to new techniques, but most importantly she was introduced to The Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. Award winning-author Rosemary Wells teams up with Maria Tallchief to shed light on her childhood and illuminate the path that led her on to the great stages in Paris and in to the hearts of people everywhere. Told in the first person, Tallchief casually though sincerely tells her story for today’s youth. While some of the text can be abstract, the passion behind it is clear. Like the story, Kelley’s warm, pastel illustrations are beautiful, and draw readers in to this earlier time. Recommended
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