Saving Maria Tallchief

Filmmaker lets Native ballerina take a bow

Culture--A Lewis & Clark grad preserves Maria Tallchief's story, in words and danceEven if you've heard the name Maria Tallchief, even if you happen to know that she was America's first prima ballerina, chances are you have never seen her dance.

For years, many of Tallchief's performances lay locked away in studio vaults. But thanks to the perseverance of a Lewis & Clark College graduate, finally, it's possible to see what made Tallchief such a significant force in the evolution of American ballet--what made her in the words of a New York Times critic at the time, the embodiment of "fury and passion, and an unearthly magic."