Maria Tallchief grew up on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma. Her father was Osage. Her mother was Scottish-Irish. She started doing ballet at age four. By the time she was eight, she had already gone through all teachers at her level in Oklahoma, so her family moved to Beverly Hills. She was trained by Bronislava Nijinska, David Lichine, and George Balanchine. Balanchine became her husband in 1942. She starred in many of her husband's ballets including "The Firebird". After she starred in "The Firebird", she got international recognition. She was an artistic director of the Chicago City Ballet from 1980 to 1987. She was recognized in the National Women's Hall of Fame. 