She Persisted: Maria Tallchief

Spoiler Disclaimer

Synopsis

Maria Tallchief loved to dance and showed an aptitude for ballet at an early age. Her mother put her in lessons and she eventually grew into a very talented ballerina. When she became an adult and moved to New York City to pursue a career in dance, she was told that she should change her Osage name to sound more Russian in order to succeed, but she refused, instead working hard to become the very best she could be. Eventually she rose to the status of America's first prima ballerina and had several ballet roles created especially for her, including that of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.

Review

Maria Tallchief is a children's, early chapter book biography in the She Persisted series that originally started with Chelsea Clinton's picture books and later grew into this multi-author chapter book series. If you're unfamiliar with the subject of this book, Maria Tallchief was a half-Native American from the Osage tribe who became the first American to achieve prima ballerina status. She was born in Oklahoma in 1925 during the time when the Osage tribe enjoyed wealth from the oil found on their reservation. From an early age, she enjoyed performing, so her mother, who had wanted to dance but never gotten the chance to, put her in ballet classes. Later they moved to Los Angeles where Maria (who was known to her family as Betty) continued with her lessons. By the time she was grown, she knew she wanted to be in a ballet company, but the opportunities for her in L.A. were limited, so she went to New York City. There she worked her way up to become a star attraction for two different ballet companies and admired around the world for her talent. She starred in many famous ballets, including being the first to play the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Her rise to stardom wasn't without difficulties, though, as it was once suggested that she change her name to sound more Russian in order to succeed, but she refused. In her retirement, she still continued to promote the art of ballet by teaching and mentoring others, and eventually she was given several awards for her work. She also became an activist for Native American causes.

I've been interested in the She Persisted series since I first discovered it. The authors seem to cover a wide variety of notable women, all of whom would make great role models for my spirited granddaughter to read about. Maria Tallchief is my first foray into the series and I thought it was a great book. It covers this talented ballerina through her life from birth to death, hitting all the high points in between, while also highlighting many of the challenges she faced along the way to achieving all that she did. I also like that the author briefly touched on the Osage nation and how they were once wealthy, as I've been very interested in reading Killers of the Flower Moon and watching the movie, which I know covers this bit of Native American history. Another selling point for me is that the author herself is of Native American heritage and I enjoy own voices stories. The book also has suggested ways in which the young reader can persist at the end, along with references for further reading on Maria Tallchief. Overall, I was very impressed with my first read in this series and look forward to checking out more of the books soon.

Visit

Christine Day