To mark the centennial of Maria Tallchief’s birth, CHM costume collection manager Jessica Pushor shares a bit about the prima ballerina’s life and a sampling of garments she donated to the CHM costume collection.
Maria Tallchief, Chicago, February 27, 1966. ADN-0000060, Chicago Daily News/Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM; Edward DeLuga for Chicago Sun-Times, photographer
Maria Tallchief, famed ballerina, was born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief on January 24, 1925, in Fairfax, Oklahoma, to Alexander Joseph and Ruth Tall Chief. Her father was a member of the Osage Nation, and her mother was Scotch-Irish. Tallchief was widely considered the first major prima ballerina to hail from the US and was the first Native American to hold that distinction. She danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1942 to 1947 but is best known for her time with the New York City Ballet from 1947 to 1965 and served as prima ballerina.
Studio/publicity photograph of Maria Tallchief, 1947. Image 3, Larry Colwell Dance Photographs, Library of Congress.
During her dance career, Tallchief was married to choreographer George Balanchine from 1946 to 1952, then private pilot Elmourza Natirboff from 1952 to 1954. In 1955, while on tour in Chicago, she met Henry D. “Buzz” Paschen Jr., a construction company executive. In her Chicago Tribune obituary, she is quoted as saying that Buzz “was very happy, outgoing, and knew nothing about ballet—very refreshing.” They married the next year and in 1959 welcomed a daughter, Elise, Tallchief’s only child.
Undated photograph of Maria Tallchief, teaching, with a dancer at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. CHM, ICHi-036422
After Tallchief retired from dancing in 1965, she was appointed ballet director at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1971, a position she held for two decades, and was the founder and co-artistic director of the Chicago City Ballet (1981–87).
Maria Tallchief (center) speaks with two dancers at a Chicago City Ballet performance at St. James Cathedral Plaza, 65 E. Huron St., Chicago, June 10, 1981. ST-12002371-0037, Chicago Sun-Times collection, CHM
Maria Tallchief had a long affiliation with the Museum, as she donated a total of 17 ensembles to the costume collection beginning in 1974 until 1992.
Dress, 1947. Wool crepe and silk velvet. Christian Dior, France. Gift of Mrs. Henry D. Paschen. CC.1974.483
This dress by Christian Dior is the Museum’s only garment from the Corolle line, Dior’s historic first haute couture Spring-Summer 1947 collection, the opening of which Tallchief attended. Tallchief purchased this dress—titled “Maxim,” after Dior’s favorite restaurant—and wore it when she received the 1953 Woman of the Year award from President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This dress was also the first donation Maria Tallchief made to the Chicago History Museum’s costume collection, and one of two Diors she donated.
Cocktail dress, c. 1954. Silk faille. Christian Dior, France. Gift of Mrs. Henry D. Paschen. 1980.142a-b
The other Dior is this cocktail dress, which still has its import tax seal attached to the interior side seam, and is the only Dior dress in the Museum’s collection that still has that seal.
Evening ensemble, c. 1984. Silk crepe and satin, sequin, glass beads. James Galanos, United States. Gift of Mrs. Henry D. Paschen, 1990.665.1a-c. Left: ICHi-063887, right: ICHi-063889
In 1990, Tallchief made her largest donation to CHM’s costume collection—12 garments by a variety of fashion designers including Mary McFadden, Geoffrey Beene, Zandra Rhodes, Bill Blass, and this ensemble by American fashion designer and couturier James Galanos. Designed in 1984, this three-piece evening ensemble of black silk chiffon and silk satin features shoulders and arms trimmed with red sequins and bugle beads, a full-length wrap skirt, and a separate cummerbund that wraps around the waist and hips. Tallchief purchased it at Bergdorf Goodman in New York.
For her contributions to American ballet, Tallchief was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1996, and in 1999 she received the National Medal for the Arts and the Theodore Thomas History Maker Award for Distinction in Performing Arts at the Chicago History Museum’s yearly Making History Awards. Maria Tallchief died on April 11, 2013, the age of 88. She was posthumously inducted into the National Native American Hall of Fame in 2018.
