Native American Dance & Dancers Posters & Prints

The Bear Dance, Giclee Print

Mandan Bull Dance, Giclee Print

George Catlin
b. 7-26-1796; Wilkes Barre, PA
d. 12-23-1872; New Jersey

George Catlin was an American painter and entrepreneur who dedicated his life to bringing attention to the disappearing Native American culture by painting Indians in their native land that he then displayed in his touring gallery.

On his first journey in 1830 he accompanied William Clark up the Mississippi River; using St. Louis his base of operations, Catlin eventually visited fifty tribes on the western frontier, the south central region, Florida, and the Great Lakes. Catlin also visited South America in the 1850s.

Catlin's original Indian Gallery resides at the Smithsonian.

Edward S. Curtis, photographer of the American West and of Native American peoples, was known to have staged events and manipulated photographs.

Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon caption reads “It is thought that an eclipse is the result of an attempt of some creature in the sky to swallow the luminary. In order to compel the monster to disgorge it, the people dance round a smoldering fire of old clothing and hair, the stench of which, rising to his nostrils, is expected to cause him to sneeze and disgorge the moon.”

Ptihn-Tak-Ochata, Dance of the Mandan Women, Giclee Print

Karl Bodmer
b. 2-6-1809; Zurich, Switzerland
d. 10-30-1893; Paris

Artist Karl Bodmer accompanied German naturalist and explorer Prince Maximilian on his 1832-34 North American Expedition. The Prince used Bodmer's paintings in his book, Travels in the Interior of North America, published in London in 1839. In Europe Bodmer lived in Barbizon, France, known as the home of the Barbizon School of painters who pioneered painting outdoors and are considered pre-Impressionists.

Maria Tallchief Contemporary Native Americans

Maria Tallchief
b. 1-24-1925, Fairfax, OK
d. 4-11-2013; Chicago, IL

Newsweek magazine once called Maria Tallchief “the finest American-born classic ballerina the twentieth century has produced.” She was the first American ballerina to gain international fame. Her lightning speed and the precision of her dancing captured the world's attention.

Maria was born on Oklahoma's Osage Indian Reservation in 1925 to an Osage father and an Irish-Scottish mother. When she was three, her mother recognized her musical talents and arranged piano and dance lessons for her. As a child, Maria practiced both piano and dance for hours every day. She eventually chose to concentrate on ballet, and by age 15, she was dancing solo roles at the legendary Hollywood Bowl. That was only the beginning. In 1927, she joined the New York City Ballet and was a principal dancer there for many years. She is especially remembered for her role in Igor Stravinsky's “Firebird” in 1949, which established her international reputation. as a Native American, she not only sparked respect for Americans in the ballet world, she also broke through racial barriers in a field dominated by white Europeans.

In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower presented Ms. Tallchief with the “Woman of the Year Award.” The Osage Tribal Council named her “Wa-Xthe-Thorba” or “Woman of Two Standards” for her achievements in both the Osage world and the world of other cultures. she retired from performing in 1966, but remains active in the arts, serving today as director of ballet for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (see publication date)

-----
Maria Tallchief studied with Bronislava Nijinska, the sister of Vaslav Nijinsky. Tallchief was briefly married to George Balanchine and originated the Sugarplum Fairy in his version of The Nutcracker.

• more Native American posters
• Ballet posters
• The Art of Maria Tallchief, DVD