Oklahoma’s 5 Native American ballerinas to be honored at inaugural Five Moons Dance Fest
Five Native American dancers from Oklahoma took the international ballet world by storm in the 20th century.
With their talent at illuminating stages, the ballerinas – Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Yvonne Chouteau, Moscelyne Larkin and Rosella Hightower – became known as the Five Moons.
Almost 100 years after they were born, dancers from across Oklahoma and beyond are shining a light on the trailblazing ballerinas at the inaugural Five Moons Dance Festival Aug. 2729 at the University of Oklahoma.
Hosted by the OU School of Dance, which Chouteau founded with her husband and fellow dancer Miguel Terekhov, the festival was created not only to celebrate the achievements of the Five Moons but also to provide a platform for female choreographers from historically underrepresented populations.
“A dance festival honoring and celebrating the legacy of the Five Moons ballerinas is long overdue,” said Warren Queton (Kiowa), a festival planning committee member and former tribal liaison at the OU Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
What will the festival include?
The three-day Norman event will include a sold-out Aug. 27 reception at Boyd House; a sold-out Aug. 28 symposium at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art; and a 3 p.m. Aug. 29 performance inside Elsie C. Brackett Theatre.
Originally scheduled for spring 2020 and delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival will include performers from the American Ballet Theatre, Oklahoma City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Osage Ballet and OU School of Dance.
Choreographers to be spotlighted include Jerome Robbins Award recipient Stefanie Batten Bland, Osage Ballet’s Jenna Smith, Princess Grace Award honoree Rena Butler, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and OKC Ballet principal dancer DaYoung Jung.
The inaugural event will focus on Osage sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief and include excerpts from “Wahzhazhe: An Osage Ballet,” which depicts the tribe’s history.
Why are they called the Five Moons?
The moniker “Five Moons” evolved from the Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festivals that took place in 1957 and 1967 to celebrate the 50th and 60th anniversaries of Oklahoma statehood. The 1967 festival included a ballet created by Cherokee composer Louis Ballard Sr. called “The Four Moons” performed by four of the five ballerinas – Maria Tallchief had retired from performing – featuring solos honoring each dancer’s heritage.
Oklahoma Native American artist Jerome Tiger (Muscogee and Seminole) created a painting for the program cover titled “The Four Moons.” Chickasaw painter Mike Larsen went on to depict the Five Moons in a mural in the state Capitol rotunda; titled “Flight of Spirit,” it was dedicated in 1991.
In 1997, the ballerinas returned to the state Capitol to be named Oklahoma Cultural Treasures. A decade later, a bronze sculpture titled “The Five Moons” by artist Gary Henson was unveiled at the Tulsa Historical Society.
Who was Maria Tallchief?
Born in Fairfax in 1925, Elizabeth Maria Tallchief (Osage) – known to her family as Betty Marie – is regarded as America’s first prima ballerina.
From her start dancing in her father’s movie theater with her sister in their hometown, Tallchief performed all over the world, raised the profile of American ballet on the international stage and helped popularize ballet in the United States.
Her family moved to California when she was 8, and after high school, Tallchief traveled to New York and started as an apprentice with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
In 1944, Russian choreographer George Balanchine joined Ballet Russe, and he and Tallchief married in 1946. Their marriage ended in 1951, but they proved successful collaborators: In 1947, after becoming the first American to dance with the Paris Opera Ballet, Tallchief was named the first prima ballerina of what would evolve into the New York City Ballet. Balanchine choreographed leading parts for her in several ballets, including “Swan Lake,” “The Nutcracker” and “The Firebird.”
Tallchief retired from the stage in 1966 and settled in Chicago, where she directed Chicago’s Lyric Opera Ballet from 1973 to 1979 and the Chicago City Ballet from 1980 to 1987.
Before she died in 2013 at the age of 88, Tallchief was given the name “Wa-Xthe-Thonba,” or “Woman of Two Standards,” by the Osage Nation, became the first Oklahoma native lauded at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996 and received a National Medal of Arts in 1999.
Who is Marjorie Tallchief?
The younger sister of Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief (Osage) was born in 1926 in Denver, Colorado, during a family vacation and grew up in Fairfax until the family moved to California when she was a girl.
She performed with several dance companies, including the American Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1946-47) and the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (1948-55). She was prima ballerina with New York’s Harkness Ballet from 1964 to 1966.
The first Native American dancer to become a première danseuse étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet, she was best known for her roles in “Idylle,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “Giselle.”
She worked as director of dance at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, from 1989 to 1993.
She was presented with a distinguished service award from OU in 1992. She is the last surviving member of the Five Moons and lives in Boca Raton.
Who was Yvonne Chouteau?
Yvonne Chouteau (Shawnee and Cherokee) was born Myra Yvonne Chouteau in 1929 in Ft. Worth, Texas, and grew up in Vinita.
In 1943, Chouteau became one of the youngest dancers ever accepted to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at age 14. She danced with the celebrated company for 14 years, performing in “Giselle,” “The Nutcracker,” “Romeo and Juliet” and more. Her most recognized role was as the Glove Seller in “Gaite Parisienne.”
She married Miguel Terekhov, a principal dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, in 1956. In 1960, they became artists in residence at OU, where they founded the School of Dance in 1961.
Two years later, they organized the Oklahoma City Civic Ballet, the precursor to the Oklahoma City Ballet, which they ran for 10 years.
She died in Oklahoma City in 2016. She was 86.
Who was Moscelyne Larkin?
Moscelyne Larkin was born in 1925, in Miami, Oklahoma, as the only child of Eva Matlagova-Larkin, a dancer from Russia, and Ruben Larkin, a member of the Shawnee-Peoria tribe.
At 15, she joined the Original Ballet Russe, first as a soloist and then as a dancer touring across Europe and beyond. Larkin met her husband, Roman Jasinski, a premier danseur, while she was dancing for the Ballet Russe. They married in 1943.
The couple moved to the United States, where they joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Famous for her high jumps and fast turns, Larkin danced leading roles in ballets like “Rodeo,” “Swan Lake” and “Scheherazade.”
After their son Roman was born, the family moved to Tulsa in 1954 and established Tulsa Ballet in 1956. The couple’s lifelong contributions to dance were recognized with the Dance Magazine Award in 1988.
Larkin died in 2012 at age 87.
Who was Rosella Hightower?
Rosella Hightower, who was Choctaw, was born in 1920 in Durwood, but her ballet career took her across Europe and beyond.
After a 1937 trip to France, she became a member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She also danced with the Original Ballet Russe, Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and American Ballet Theatre. She was known for featured roles in “Swan Lake,” “Giselle” and “Don Quixote.”
Hightower opened the Ecole Superieure de Danse de Cannes (the Center for Classical Dance), which became one of Europe’s leading ballet schools, in 1962 in Cannes, France. She also worked with the Marseilles Ballet and La Scala Ballet.
She received France’s top honor, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, in 1975, and she became the first American director of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1981.
She died in 2008 at her home in Cannes. She was 88.