Ballerina Maria Tallchief performs for President John F. Kennedy (1962) | The Kennedy Center

Ballerina Maria Tallchief performs for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower during "An American Pageant of the Arts," on November 29, 1962. The purpose of the event was to raise funds for the National Cultural Center, begun under Eisenhower's administration and encouraged under Kennedy's.
Two months after President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Congress passed and President Johnson signed into law legislation renaming the National Cultural Center as a "living memorial" to John F. Kennedy.
Watch the full pageant with Bob Newhart, Harry Belafonte, Yo-Yo Ma, Danny Kaye, Marian Anderson, Robert Frost, Andre Previn, and many more:
• "An American Pageant o...
Learn more about the Kennedy Center's history:
www.kennedy-center.org/our-st...
Maria Tallchief was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American to hold the rank, and is said to have revolutionized ballet. When George Balanchine co-founded what would become the New York City Ballet in 1946, Tallchief became the company's first star. The combination of Balanchine's difficult choreography and Tallchief's passionate dancing changed the world of dance. She served as director of ballet for the Lyric Opera of Chicago for most of the 1970s and debuted the Chicago City Ballet in 1981. Tallchief was honored by the people of Oklahoma with multiple statues and an honorific day. She was inducted in the National Women's Hall of Fame and received a National Medal of Arts. In 1996, Tallchief received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievements.
Help Inspire Others: The Kennedy Center building may be temporarily closed, but its arts and education programming is still alive! Your gift today will provide vital support for the arts during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Please consider donating today at:
www.kennedy-center.org/Suppor...
Subscribe to The Kennedy Center! bit.ly/2gNFrtb
#mariatallchief #ballerina #kennedycenter

[@kas_xo]

Thanks, Google! I never would've known about Maria otherwise. What a tremendously talented and beautiful woman.

[@joannanderson1444]

And also jacque Valle whome my life work a d help me to be a succusable workers nrsonesinwsbe yevjnphos

[@1231oreo]

@@joannanderson1444 same here.

[@rahstara]

same!

[@kearabevels296]

Very lovely ballerina. She used to have a studio in chicago. My grandfather actually fixed the flooring and all that for her and actually got to meet her. This was years ago though.

[@jillianmcbeaver8371]

what an honor!

[@thangvuong9196]

America's first Prima Ballerina.

[@leeannmettlach2412]

What an amazing performance & amazing share! I am currently reading Killers of the Flower Moon or should I say trying to read it. It just makes me sad. I follow a channel & they did a podcast where they were walking downtown Fairfax. There is a wooden statue of a ballerina outside of the Tallchief Theater, where they have a memorial set up. I had to try & see Maria Tallchief dance. What a beautiful performance!!!

[@adawkins5678]

I'm so mad that I'm today years old just learning about Maria Tallchief and all she's done for ballet! 😣 I love ballet and can't believe I haven't heard of her once! Excited to learn more about her though!

[@SnippetsBB]

It's about time to see honors such as this for the First People. Certainly this was NEVER mentioned in schoolbooks. Writers of schoolbooks MUST have varied ethnic writers/historians at the table.

[@jillianmcbeaver8371]

agreed!

[@NeryssaPaige]

She was beloved and famous, and always honored her Osage background. However, Tallchief considered herself a ballet dancer who happened to be a Native American not vice versa. Her autobiography is worth reading.

[@TrevorMom]

I love the term First People because that's what Native Americans were. They were first, and if we whites hadn't committed genocide, they would still live on this land. Furthermore, they would have respected it enough to not destroy it for profits.

[@PowerEnglish4ForeignExecs]

@@TrevorMom Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I agree that First People contributed much to our American history and as such should be recognized. Happy 4th.

[@MJ-zh4el]

I danced for years and never heard of her. Thanks to Google for celebrating such a beautiful Native American artist!

[@jillianmcbeaver8371]

really?? she played a major role in ballet as she was one of america’s first major prima ballerinas in history. I wish more dancers knew that.

[@lukeseven4719]

Agreed. However even Maria acknowledged. That she was a dancer. Nothing more. Her mother was scotch- Irish. So… My best friend since I was five is Osage and led me to this. His words- “why does everything have to be about race?” She was an astoundingly beautiful dancer. Period.

[@IceAintNice]

“So why must we make everything about race? Well, for one, race affects every aspect of our lives. Racialized communities are more likely to live in food desserts, polluted areas, and have lower-quality healthcare. What neighborhood you live in and what school your child goes to are influenced by race. K-12 schools, for example, with higher populations of Black and Latino students are more likely to be underfunded. Race impacts likelihood to be stopped by police, graduation rates, salary, and opportunities. Racism is embedded into every facet and crevice of America. Rather than questioning why racialized individuals “make everything about race,” we should instead be interrogating how these gross inequities are able to continue.”

[@hanzkins6732]

She's one of the first ballerinas of the new york city ballet under Balanchine

[@kristinehatkinson7323]

Her arms are amazingly expressive-- so graceful under the most ambitious movements. Wow. Yes, I think she may be the best-- and I've seen Margot Fonteyn, Nuryev, Baryshnikov and pricnipals of Boston Ballet last 30 years.

[@carinamoses2704]

such a beautiful sense of musicality and dramatic timing, and lots of flexibility and flair in the poses - she captures the mix of poetic swan and emotive human personality very well.

[@davideasiebert1941]

She was 47 years old in this video.......so lovely, graceful, fluid like magic.

[@Qwerty-db1js]

She was born in 1925 😅

[@martingorbien5881]

37

[@OperaJH]

I’m originally from Singapore and I had heard of her and seen some film of her magical dancing… so I don’t know why people here wouldn’t have heard of her. I also worked with Pacific Northwest Ballet and the dancers were certainly aware of her, as well as those of in marketing and development. At any rate, Maria Tallchief is an American legend and icon of the highest order…

[@nikkitennison6938]

Beautiful and elegant Maria....

[@bananakids_1212]

You are acting like she is your crush lol

[@caylya7869]

celebrating a native american google. Cool.

[@albertodiaz9853]

Sii

[@CulturedCarlo]

Yup we some of the first people checking her out because of Google haha thanks google!

[@PamelaJean515]

Not I. I learned about Maria as a little girl (which was many years ago)

[@racourdav]

So elegant and graceful...wonderful recognition Google! RIP Maria

[@theendofanerror4173]

Google brought me here. Her strength is unbelievable!! 😍

[@lexizurovec8957]

My girl was 37 here. Absolutely insane talent and beauty

[@pbjsilverstudio4882]

I found Maria’s name on the She Persisted book and had to look her up! What a BEAUTIFUL dancer she was!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Brava!!

[@se9f282]

She is very lovely. Married to Balanchine, and renowned for her performance of The Firebird.

[@woodenloonynickel]

Thank you.

[@queenteireigns6212]

Beautiful! Thanks for the history lesson!

[@insaelliott1318]

Oh - she was such a Queen of Dance! What charisma, elegance and attack!

[@MsEmilylovesya]

So beautiful and elegant, I always click on the Google homage for this reason. She makes everything look effortless

[@MrQbenDanny]

What a great joy to see the magnificent Siegfried of ROYES FERNANDEZ!!!

[@yelenazerk]

Woow amazing. Never knew there is so much to this pas de deux wow its looooooooong!!!

[@cathyroque954]

She's amazing!🤩

[@andresquesada2425]

Maria's technique= perfection

[@SweetTater]

Incredible talent.

[@Yoliplanting]

She was exquisite and incomparable 👏👏👏💖💖💖💖🌸🌸🌸

[@CaseyRoche]

At 37 years old!

[@Action_Slacks]

Hard to believe! Most people can't even walk after age 35!

[@edithdlp8045]

@@Action_Slacks I had a brain tumor removal surgery at 43 and now at 45 need a walker to get around. I wish I could walk not dance like she did, simply awesome.

[@leonorsnowe1823]

Absolutely beautiful. She is also in the book Gutsy women.💃

[@DianaKazimiera-]

This absolutely amazing dancers 👏👏👏

[@ericahorton2162]

Wow! She;s amazing!

[@JillASim]

Strength, grace, precision, and the negative space between movements creating tension with her partner (and story), when other ballerinas would have chosen hyper flexibility, delicateness, virtuosity. She was a true artist.

[@PeggyR70]

She looks light as air and has such incredible control of her movements. I dont know much about ballet but this looked as perfect as could be.

[@maeve40fitness]

Learned from Maria and her sister Marjorie. Legends!

[@pamelabartock4696]

My favorite ballerina!

[@edithdlp8045]

Wow. The best I have seen. I just knew her because of google. I was missing out

[@danawinsor1380]

I wish they would credit the excellent male dancer. Don't forget: a ballerina cannot perform a scene like this without the male dancer to lift her and bring her back down. Most people don't realize how strong these guys have to be!

[@qatarbeyondthelens9144]

tallchief was an article in my sat

[@derphyn]

I just discovered the U.S. 25-cent coin has her image and her name in Osage on the back. The world was so fortunate to have her in it.

[@nauonevabb]

wow she is amazing

[@1psoas9]

Who is her partner here? He presents her beautifully

[@royalmaster203]

can't imagine all the training this took.

[@bananakids_1212]

Cool

[@drewr2983]

BEAUTIFUL. Thanks google.

[@danawinsor1380]

Beautiful video -- thanks for posting! BTW, the title's not quite correct -- the Kennedy Center didn't open until 1970.

[@cheyannelecamp226]

shes gorgeous

[@waboosejackson3711]

I first got a schooling about her, on my trimet ride in Portland Oregon, a gentleman asked if I was a dancer, I said No, I just dance pow wow style, he told me I had a dancer's body whatever that means.

[@sheilabloom6735]

I just found out she was a member of the Osage tribe; her sister was also a well-known ballerina.

[@Dammi-y1t]

Yo la conocí por la moneda especial que tengo😢😢

[@MrAlexanderrangel]

she moves like no other person I've ever seen

[@eosornio1558]

Thank you google for letting me know this legend is Native American

[@donteporchia1744]

🩰

[@AliciaMarkoe]

pretty

[@woodenloonynickel]

I have come to know sarcasm.

[@laynerickabaugh5909]

Happy Women History's month from Agnor-Hurt 3rd Grade!

[@tombaird2584]

And who is her partner???? She couldn't have done that without him!

[@gazzablanca]

It is John f kennedy