- Of Osage Native American blood.
- Acknowledged as the most technically accomplished ballerina ever produced in America.
- Credits St. Exupery with her favorite quote: "If anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away".
- Starred with the New York City Ballet for 18 years.
- Her father was an Osage Indian and her mother was of Scottish-Irish heritage.
- Prima ballerina.
- She was an American ballerina.
- She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1999 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.
- She created the role of the "Sugar Plum Fairy" in George Balanchine's production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker".
- Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
- Founded the Chicago City Ballet in 1981 and served as its artistic director (1981-1987).
- She had her first ballet lessons in Colorado Springs. She also studied piano and ballet with local teachers in Oklahoma. She briefly considered becoming a concert pianist.
- Her sister, Marjorie Tallchief, also became a ballerina, spending most of her career in Europe.
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