Google Celebrates Maria Tallchief

The Google doodle for today, November 14 2020, celebrates Maria Tallchief. For those of you who might never have heard of her, Maria Tallchief was the first major prima ballerina from the United States, as well as the first Native American prima ballerina. She was born a member of the Osage Nation with the name Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief on January 24 1925. Her Osage family name was Ki He Kah Stah Tsa. She trained from a very young age in ballet. It was when she was eight years old that her family moved to Los Angeles to further the careers of both Betty Marie (as she was called) and her sister Marjorie. When she was 17 years old she moved to New York City, where she took the name "Maria Tallchief." She danced for Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. After the New York City Ballet was founded, she became its first major star. In her career she danced with the American Ballet Theatre and became the first American to dance with Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. She later danced with the Hamburg Ballet. After retiring from dance, she served as the director of ballet for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and later founded the Chicago City Ballet.

Below is Google's doodle paying tribute to Maria Tallchief and below that a video on the making of the doodle.