American Indian ballerinas

by Lili Cockerille Livingston

This book is the first authorized biography of four twentieth-century American Indian ballerinas: Maria Tallchief, Rosella Hightower, Marjorie Tallchief, and Yvonne Chouteau. All raised in Oklahoma during the 1920s and 1930s, these women went on to achieve international fame, each uniquely responsible for changing the image of a ballerina. Lili Cockerille Livingston, who worked with all four of the ballerinas during her own career as a dancer, draws upon her extensive interviews with the women to bring their stories to life. In their own words, they tell about their childhoods in Oklahoma, their early rises to fame, the ups and downs of their personal lives, the challenges of combining marriage and motherhood with a dancing career, and their recent achievements as mentors and teachers of a younger generation of dancers. In tracing the diverse careers of the ballerinas, Livingston fills important gaps in the history of ballet. She sheds new light on the development of New York City Ball