Maria Tallchief

[lorenzoverlaine]

Unfortunately for me, my love affair with ballet, is relatively recent, but, as I grew up and matured, the ballerina of whom I heard most was Maria Tallchief. Only about a year ago I discovered the VAI DVD of Bruhn and Nureyev in Bell Telephone hour performances from 1961-1967. Their partners were Sonia Arova, Carla Fracchi, Svetlana Beriosova, Lupe Serrano, and Maria T. I was quite eager to see, at last, the vaunted American, who was 36 in 1961, and terribly disappointed in her appearances with Bruhn in Don Quixote and with Nureyev in Flower Festival.

She exhibited the worst balance I’ve ever seen in a professional dancer; at one moment, when being supported by hand in a pointe balance, she reached her other hand a couple of times to grab her partner and thus maintain equilibrium. In her turns, always jerky with arms folded closely about her, she never looked entirely vertical and gave the overall impression of being heavy and anything but gracile. As to presentation she wore always a rather silly and unnatural grin, I thought.

On this DVD she was in rather elite company; I think Fracchi was one of the finest ballerinas of all time, and Jennifer Penney, 25 years with the RB, ranked Beriosova as her favorite during her time there, which overlapped Fonteyn’s, of course. Serrano and Arova looked commendable, too, and I regretted that Tallchief was inferior to them all.

I realize that there are possible, explanatory factors unappreciated by the naïve observer years later. Among these are unfamiliarity with the partners, performing in a TV studio as opposed to on stage, and, with her background, not great experience with Romantic roles. More knowledgeable people may suggest others. Additionally, she just may have had a couple of bad outings, though, it seems to me, being capable at anything subsumes consistency.

On the basis of this single recording, I must wonder to what extent Maria Tallchief’s repute owed to her having been George B.’s wife, an American Indian, or just an American. Perhaps our country seized upon her, as it had on her one-time husband, to be our ballet standard-bearer when it thought it needed one. Perhaps, too, those American standards then were lower; e.g., Maya Plisetskaya was born in the same year as Maria T., and the difference recalls a Cole Porter song, Night and Day.

Am I just a bad arbiter of ballet talent?

[leonid17]

Am I just a bad arbiter of ballet talent?

Maria Tallchief was an extraordinary dancer with an international reputation and was probably the first American dancer to exhibit a well controlled and highly developed technique. President Eisenhower in 1953 named her as “Woman of the Year”. She was notable for outstanding performances in many ballets and her essaying of Balanchine’s “Firebird” is legendary. You get some idea of her qualities in clips available on youtube in “Les Sylphides” with Royes Fernandez. Her showing in “Flower Festival at Genzano” does not see her at home with what I assume was unfamiliar choreographic style. I have yet to see a film of any ballet that fully captures a dance performance and a film cannot be compared in any sense to the experience of a performance in a theatre. Maria Tallchief was a star of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, NYCB and the American Ballet Theatre where she continued to exhibit her ability in a wide range of roles.

Miss Tallchief was awarded the American National Medal of Arts in 1999, The Metropolitan Museum of Art presented a special tribute to her in 2006.

You write, “On the basis of this single recording, I must wonder to what extent Maria Tallchief’s repute owed to her having been George B.’s wife, an American Indian, or just an American. Perhaps our country seized upon her, as it had on her one-time husband, to be our ballet standard-bearer when it thought it needed one. Perhaps, too, those American standards then were lower; e.g., Maya Plisetskaya was born in the same year as Maria T., and the difference recalls a Cole Porter song, Night and Day.”

I think a little googling and the reading of some books might have brought you to a different understanding of Miss Tallchief.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Agree with Leonid about recordings. In her book Suzanne Farrell says something like she doesn't like people to think that she is the woman dancing in whatever has been preserved on video of her, because she KNOWS that she DID dance better than that-(In her own words).

[aurora]

You get some idea of her qualities in clips available on youtube in “Les Sylphides” with Royes Fernandez.

you can see this here:

(it is put on youtube by the company which released video of it so I assume that unlike many clips there are no copyright issues to hamper putting up a link)

The topic starter said:

She exhibited the worst balance I’ve ever seen in a professional dancer

check out 3:40 on the youtube video linked above--I think you will find differently

[aurora]

In her turns, always jerky with arms folded closely about her,

I actually didn't see to what you are referring particularly, but the arms folded closely is a Balanchine stylistic choice in pirouettes. Perhaps not appropriate to the piece but indicative of the style in which she worked primarily. I am not sure if that is what is going on here, but it seems a likely possibility

[Marga]

About the Bell Telephone video: The dancers spoke about this performance on another video -- or I may have read it -- that the lack of space in the tiny TV studio was very unnerving and the studio lights were blinding. They had to adjust all the choreography and modify well-rehearsed PDD on the spot. Indeed, you can see how, at times, the dancer has danced to within inches of the camera. So, I would not form a judgement of anyone's dancing based on the Bell Telephone Hour tape.

I grew up watching Maria Tallchief. She was my favorite dancer right until she stopped dancing. Her performances were incredible. No one matched her speed in turns, her passion in ballets such as "Firebird", or her technical precision. She was a supremely musical dancer.

She said (in "I Remember Balanchine", I believe) that, from the age of 19, when she started working with Balanchine day and night, he totally reshaped her body and changed her technique. He made her into the dancer that won the hearts of America, choreographing 32 ballet on her. Of course, she had appeal because she was part American Indian (also part Scottish and several other nationalities), and because she was the young wife of the genius balletmaster. But she deserved every bit of praise she got for her dancing. She WAS that good!

[atm711]

The 'Sylphides' clip was so beautifully performed; it's the first time I have seen it. I doubt there are too many people around who have been watching Tallchief for as long as I have. I have been watching her since she was a mere 19 years old (in 1944). (check out my blog above where I have written about those early years). She would have been a Ballerina with or without Balanchine (fortunately the latter prevailed). Lorenzo, it's too bad you 'only heard of Maria Tallchief' and did not actually see her. I don't think Beriosova comes out all that well on that Video; but I certainly don't hold it against her reputation.

[bart]

Tallchief left New York City Ballet shortly after I began attending, so I did not get to see her very often. I have two memories:

-- an emotionally powerful (even draining) Orpheus (with Moncion and ??), and

-- the HUGE audience response (full of affection and excitement) following her performance.

It might help to have some background about the video that lorenzoverlaine is describing. This was Nureyev's first television performance in the US, and he was replacing Erik Bruhn with only a week's notice. The show was live; the dancers worked on cement floors; and much of the short rehearsal period was spent working on adjusting to rather rigid camera placement.

According to Julie Kavanagh's biography of Nureyev, he and Tallchief had already met each other in France and engaged in a kind of flirtation -- possibly even a brief affair. (She was fixated on Bruhn at the time.)

Nureyev had been working intensely with Bruhn in Denmark and had actually performed Flower Festival in Genzano, dancing with Sonia Arova after Bruhn was injured. He knew his Bournonville. Tallchief did not.

Here's Julie Kavanagh's account of the televised performance:

"Rudolf has triumphantly mastered the elasticitiy of Danish style (the ballon he so noticeably lacked at the gala in November), as well as its clarity and crispness. By contrast, the Russian-trained Tallchief is conspicuously miscast as a Bournonville ballerina, being much too tall and expansive, her timing too languorous, her long feet lacking in precision, her flowing arms unnaturally coy in the foreshortened, Romantic lithograph poses. She admits that shs felt ill at ease in the past de deux (on pointe she is almost a head taller than Rudolf), but agrees that he was "incredible" in their performance.

Tallchief has conspicuous problems in "balance" on at least two occasions during this pdd: during a penche arabesque, where she has to rely for support on Nureyev's extended hand, and at the end of a couple of fast multiple pirouettes, performed in tandem with Nureyev.

This was not a natural partnership, and there was little rehearsal time. Could at least part of the problem lie in the partnering issues?

atm711: I'd love to hear more about your response to the Bruhn/Tallchief Sylphides clip on the same dvd. I have to admit that this does not seem like Tallchief's role, either.

Also: have you -- or has anyone -- seen the black-and-white Tallchief/Eglevsky segment from Scotch Symphony? That's a powerful example of the awful things that television could do to great dancers in that period.

[dirac]

The 'Sylphides' clip was so beautifully performed; it's the first time I have seen it. I doubt there are too many people around who have been watching Tallchief for as long as I have. I have been watching her since she was a mere 19 years old (in 1944). (check out my blog above where I have written about those early years). She would have been a Ballerina with or without Balanchine (fortunately the latter prevailed). Lorenzo, it's too bad you 'only heard of Maria Tallchief' and did not actually see her. I don't think Beriosova comes out all that well on that Video; but I certainly don't hold it against her reputation.

One can certainly understand why some dancers refuse to allow films of themselves to be re-released! Balanchine chose Tallchief not only as a wife and a prima but as the dancer around whom he would build a company. He staked pretty much everything on Tallchief and she repaid him in full. As Arlene Croce pointed out, he recreated many of the canonical roles of the repertory on her.

It's true she doesn't look like the dancers of today. She's smaller, as many of the dancers were then, and she doesn't conform to the Balanchine dancer stereotype - she has a largish head and shortish legs, for example.

These questions are worth asking, lorenzoverlaine, and I'm glad you spoke up.

(The clip of Tallchief doing the Berceuse from Firebird in a television studio, despite the plainly cramped circumstances, is a beautiful bit of film.)

[Helene]

Balanchine chose Tallchief not only as a wife and a prima but as the dancer around whom he would build a company. He staked pretty much everything on Tallchief and she repaid him in full. As Arlene Croce pointed out, he recreated many of the canonical roles of the repertory on her.

Tallchief herself said this in so many interviews, including several on tape, in the context of looking back to see why Balanchine married her. She said he saw her "as material", and that he had already had the new company in mind and wanted to ensure her loyalty to the enterprise and to be sure that her energy and focus was on their work together.

Tallchief was the center of Balanchine's artistic focus at the time, and it wasn't even as if he found her perfect. She relates several anecdotes on film, such as how her muscles became elongated after studying with Balanchine, how Balanchine watched her warm up before a performance doing her "lousy barre" and told her that if she "could just do battement tendu well, that was all [she'd] need to know" -- which she took to mean that she needed to get back to the drawing board -- and how when he cast her with Tanaquil Leclerq, whom he had trained since she was a child, in "Symphony Concertante" that Balanchine wanted her to move like Leclerq, and that the ballet was a teaching ballet, and even as the de facto star of the company, she did not feel exempt from being taught.

(The clip of Tallchief doing the Berceuse from Firebird in a television studio, despite the plainly cramped circumstances, is a beautiful bit of film.)

Just the excerpts shown in the PBS Balanchine bio are superb.

I only met the father of my Somerville, MA roommate once or twice; he and her mom were early NYCB goers and may have been members of Ballet Society. (On a ballet weekend in NYC, my roommate even brought me to the second floor Japanese restaurant in the 50's that was her parents pre-NYCB-at-City-Center dinner haunt at a time when Japanese food in street-level restaurants meant grill.) His face lit up as he recounted Tallchief. He said he had never seen anything like her energy and speed in "Firebird" before or since.

[dirac]

Yes, all of that was in “Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas,” which is well worth checking out, lorenzoverlaine – it has interviews with Tallchief, Mary Ellen Moylan, Merrill Ashley, Allegra Kent, Melissa Hayden, and Darci Kistler, and has some great early footage, including the Berceuse clip. Wonderful movie by the late Anne Belle and Deborah Dickson.

[lorenzoverlaine]

Thanks, everyone, for the references and suggestions, which I plan soon to pursue. I'm relieved to learn that this sample was not representative, for I thought she looked inferior to all the other women on the dvd.

L.V.