From childhood lessons in Oklahoma to the Firebird stage and a Chicago ballet school, Osage dancer Maria Tallchief keeps the name she chose and helps younger dancers learn. An original, gentle biography for ages 3–5.
Read first 4 pagesThe opening of Maria Tallchief: Dancing Forward, free to read.
As a little girl in Oklahoma, Betty Marie Tall Chief took dance lessons. Her father was a member of the Osage Nation. The Osage are a Native American people. Betty Marie would grow up to dance as Maria Tallchief.
Her grandmother Eliza shared Osage traditions with her. These were ways of living and learning passed through the family. Betty Marie was an Osage child before she ever danced on a big stage. Her family and her dancing were both parts of her life.
Betty Marie's mother, Ruth, had wanted dance lessons when she was young. Her family could not afford them. When Betty Marie and her sister Marjorie wanted to dance, Ruth signed them up. The two girls began learning side by side.
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