She was natural Betty Marie Tall Chief within Fairfax, Oklahoma on January 24, 1925, to a Osage Nation father and the Scotch-Irish mother. She enjoyed music & dance, & expert existence the star — the substantially challenging dream for a Native American child in those days. Of her childhood she wrote, "I was a good student and fit in at Sacred Heart (Catholic School). But in many ways, I was a typical Indian girl — shy, docile, introverted. I loved being outdoors and spent most of my time wandering around my big front yard, where there was an old swing and a garden. I'd also ramble around the grounds of our summer cottage hunting for arrowheads in the grass. Finding one made me shiver with excitement. Mostly, I longed to be in the pasture, running around where the horses were..."

She followed her dream to become the ballerina. Researching by using Bronislava Nijinska for five years led to a neural appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. Madame Nijinska's philosophy of discipline add up to Tallchief. "When you sleep, sleep like ballerina. Even on street waiting for bus, stand like ballerina." Betty Marie continued to operate stiff & mastered technical indicator skills swell beyond her years. a refined agency, Maria Tallchief, when she known as herself, left Los Angeles at the age of Xvii & auditioned within Up to date York City. She joined a Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and quickly rose to the status of featured soloist.

Choreographer George Balanchine wrote several of his best known works for her & them were married from either 1946 until their divorce inside 1951. She performed for the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1960, where Balanchine was a chief choreographer. Her performance of Balanchine's The Firebird in 1949 and their earliest collaboration at a Paris Opera elevated Maria Tallchief onto the world stage.

Tremendously of the globe got never seen anything prefer Maria Tallchief. Admired by hundreds to thousands, she became Us's leading dancer, the prima ballerina, & around 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower declared her "Woman of the Year." After a Governor of Oklahoma honored her that same season for her international accomplishment & her gallant Native Western identity, Maria Tallchief was known as Washington-Xthe-Thomba, "Woman of Two Worlds."

She continued to dance sustaining a American Ballet Theatre through 1965, when her retirement saddened a artistic globe. Sustaining her sister Marjorie, she founded a Chicago City Ballet in 1981 and served when its artistic director across 1987.

Currently Fourscore, she is retired.