FILE - This Sept. 14, 1953 file photo shows Maria Tallchief, prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet, in Tschaikowsky's "Swan Lake" during the opening performance of the company's engagement at the Scala Theater in Milan, Italy. Tallchief died died Thursday, April 11, 2013, in Chicago at the age of 88. Tallchief joined the company that would become the New York City Ballet in 1948. She was married for a time to George Balanchine, who founded the School of American Ballet in New York. Tallchief worked with Balanchine on such masterpieces as 1949's "Firebird" and his now-historic version of "The Nutcracker." (AP Photo, file)