I travel a lot throughout the United States as a dancer, but I rarely get the opportunity to really spend time and see it. In 2023, however, I flew to Oklahoma and visited Fairfax, a town within the Osage Nation. I was there to research a potential film about Maria Tallchief, America’s first prima ballerina and the first Native American to hold that title. She was born there and, in the 1940s and ’50s, was a principal dancer in the New York City Ballet. It was dark, humid, and pouring rain when we arrived. The land felt so open, almost as if it could speak; it was grounding to sense such vast history beneath my feet. The town, which looks a little like an Old Hollywood movie set, is home to the Tall Chief Theater, built by Maria’s father in 1928. Her nephew Russ Tallchief and daughter Elise Paschen took us there one morning. It was woodsy, with high ceilings, like a barn. He shared lots of stories (Maria was en pointe by the age of five!), and I could picture her right there on the stage, becoming one of the greatest ballerinas of all time. [Before we left,] the chief of Osage Nation invited us to the unveiling of a commemorative coin honoring Maria, which included a ceremonial dance performance. The drums began pounding; the rain started to beat down even harder. There was so much color, all these beautiful headdresses, and the male dancers were stomping their legs to mimic the drums. I can remember their skin [in the rain], the way their muscles moved and changed shape to the music, which is one of my favorite things about watching dance. There is gravity to being welcomed like that. It showed me how many communities within America are rich and deep, still inviting people in and carrying their stories—stories that are the fabric of our country. Something changed in me during that trip. I began to feel pride about my homeland in a new way.”
Misty Copeland is a former principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, the curator of this year’s Joyce’s Ballet Festival in New York City (August 4–16), and the author of children’s book Firebird Waltz, out August 25. This article appeared in the July/August 2026 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
