[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: My guest is Maria Tallchief,
the finest American-born classic ballerina
the 20th century has produced.
I want to ask you, what are the purposes of ballet?
MARIA TALLCHIEF: To communicate, frankly, without words.
You what I want to be.
LYDIA CHESHEWALLA: When I think of Maria Tallchief,
I think of beauty.
ELISE PASCHEN: Every movement, she would just
take people's breath away.
MARIA TALLCHIEF: To go up on my toes and twirl
as if it is absolutely effortless.
YATIKA STARR FIELDS: An indigenous
coming all the way from Oklahoma, the confidence
and the strength that she had to travel the world,
and being on stage in front of thousands of people.
LYDIA CHESHEWALLA: This is an indigenous woman
who, against all odds, became a prima ballerina.
ELISE PASCHEN: Maria Tallchief was
born on the Osage Reservation in 1925
and was raised from a very young age to study ballet.
My name is Elise Paschen.
I am a poet, professor, and I am the daughter
of Maria Tallchief.
She was a great inspiration.
And I realized from a very young age that a woman, an artist,
could dedicate their life to their passion.
HELENE LEROUX: She was a woman of two worlds.
And I really wanted to celebrate her journey
and try and make something that captures this beautiful thing.
My name is Helene Leroux.
I am a full-time doodler and Art Director of the Maria Tallchief
Doodle.
The concept is a video where you could see Maria animated, go
through different stages in her life, from Oklahoma
to LA to New York, but also features her
in her iconic roles--
The "Firebird," "Swan Lake," "The Nutcracker."
I knew immediately that I wanted to work with guest artists
from the same community.
So I reached out to Lydia Cheshewalla, Chris Pappan,
and Yatika Fields, telling them that I would animate
the character of Maria in the middle,
and they would have to create the world around it.
YATIKA STARR FIELDS: I was pretty honored
that I was an artist that was sought out to do this.
My name is Yatika Starr Fields.
I'm an Osage, Cherokee, and Creek indigenous artist
from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
And the performance I was chosen to paint is "Swan Lake."
I really just wanted to be present in the music,
just kind of let the spirits and emotions
and spontaneity inspire itself.
The blue line translated to how Maria Tallchief would
have been dancing on the stage.
Fluidity, motion, it's like a pen, and in this case,
spray paint, helping carry her mark and movement
throughout the canvas.
LYDIA CHESHEWALLA: When Google first approached me,
I was just so floored 'cause there's really not very many
places for young indigenous girls to see themselves.
My name is Lydia Cheshewalla.
I'm an Osage artist from Tulsa, Oklahoma,
and I helped create the Maria Tallchief's Doodle.
I was asked to illustrate "The Nutcracker" ballet--
"The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."
I chose to work in paper collage.
I like the spontaneity of cutting shapes, arranging
bright colors, and then referring back
to our own iconography, these symbols of strength--
the eagle feather, the blanket with the hands
to represent the hands of our ancestors on us.
But in the current time, the red hand print
has also come to represent missing and murdered indigenous
persons.
And so there are these elements that
can appear light and fluffy on the surface
but contain the complexity of human existence, which
I think all good art does.
SPEAKER 1: Do you have time to concern yourself
with the struggle of the American Indian?
MARIA TALLCHIEF: I have always tried
to do that by doing the best job I know how.
Then if I can instill this into young people,
that's all I want.
YATIKA STARR FIELDS: I think every native individual
has had to stay resilient in all these years.
And Maria Tallchief is a amazing figure that's
done that through the arts.
From Oklahoma to her ballets that she did all
around the world, this Google Doodle will highlight that.
ELISE PASCHEN: When people see this Doodle,
I hope that they discover for themselves the world of ballet
and take the opportunity to learn more
about the Osage, my mother, and her incredible life.
LYDIA CHESHEWALLA: I think it's really important to draw light
to not only her achievements as an Osage woman
but her achievements, period.
[MUSIC PLAYING]