A dance festival honoring the five renowned Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma, known as the Five Moons, will be held Aug. 27-29 on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus.

The five ballerinas, Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin and Yvonne Chouteau, created distinguished careers in the dance world during the 20th century. This year’s inaugural festival will highlight both Maria and Marjorie Tallchief and their legacies.

The Five Moons Dance Festival aims to inspire interest in the university, Norman, Oklahoma City, and greater Oklahoma community in learning more about the Five Moons’ remarkable accomplishments and to provide a platform for female-identifying choreographers from historically underrepresented populations to present their work, thereby contributing to the future of female leadership in dance.

The festival will include an opening night reception on Aug. 27, a series of panel discussions and educational events with dance artists and scholars on Aug. 28 at the Fred Jones Junior Museum of Art; and culminate in a dance performance on Aug. 29 in the Elsie C. Brackett Theatre, 563 Elm Ave. Norman, OK 73019.

Performing groups will include American Ballet Theatre, Oklahoma City Ballet, Osage Ballet and students from the OU School of Dance. Highlighted choreographers will include Stefanie Batten Bland, a Jerome Robbins awardee, Osage Ballet’s Jenna Smith, Rena Butler, a Princess Grace awardee, and Oklahoma City Ballet principal dancer, DaYoung Jung.

The term “Five Moons” is derived from a ballet created by Cherokee composer Louis Ballard Sr. called The Four Moons that was performed at the Second Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festival in 1967.

The Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festivals were held in 1957 and 1967 to celebrate milestone anniversaries of Oklahoma’s statehood. The Four Moons, which was performed by four of the ballerinas, excluding Maria Tallchief who had retired from performing, included solos honoring the unique heritage of each dancer.

Celebrated Native American artist Jerome Tiger created a painting titled The Four Moons, which was the program cover for the 1967 Oklahoma Indian Ballerinas Festival. The Five Moons have also been honored in a mural titled Flight of Spirit by Chickasaw painter Mike Larsen, located in the rotunda of the Oklahoma State Capitol, and a bronze sculpture installation in Tulsa by Oklahoma artist Gary Henson titled The Five Moons.

Four of the Five Moons have been inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Each of the Five Moons had notable performing careers, all dancing with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as well as other renowned companies in the United States and abroad.

In addition to being trailblazers in the world of professional ballet, the Five Moons contributed to the future of the art form by teaching the next generation of dancers and founding or leading several major ballet schools and companies, many of which are still active today.

Moscelyne Larkin, a member of the Shawnee-Peoria tribe, co-founded the Tulsa Ballet with her husband, Roman Jasinski, in 1956.

Rosella Hightower, of Choctaw descent, founded the Center for Classical Dance, in Cannes, France, in 1962, and in 1981, she became the first American director of the Paris Opera Ballet.

Yvonne Chouteau, of Shawnee and Cherokee heritage, established OU’s Department of Dance, now the OU School of Dance in 1963 with her husband, Miguel Terekhov. She also founded the Oklahoma City Civic Ballet, now known as Oklahoma City Ballet in 1963.

This year’s festival will have a special focus on honoring the Tallchief sisters, Maria and Marjorie, both of the Osage Nation. Maria Tallchief founded Chicago City Ballet in 1974.

Maria Tallchief is widely considered to be America’s first prima ballerina. George Balanchine created several roles for her during her time as a principal dancer at New York City Ballet, including her signature The Firebird.

Marjorie Tallchief was the first Native American dancer to become a première danseuse étoile at the renowned Paris Opera Ballet. She served as the director of dance at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, from 1989 to 1993. She was presented with a distinguished service award from OU in 1992. Marjorie Tallchief is the last surviving member of the Five Moons and resides in Boca Raton.

Excerpts from Wahzhazhe will be presented at the festival. Wahzhazhe was produced by Randy Tinker Smith and choreographed by Jenna Smith, both of Osage descent. Roman Jasinski (Shawnee, Peoria) acted as adviser on the project. The music for the ballet was composed by Lou Brock (Osage) and Dr. Joseph Rivers and arranged by Dr. Rivers. Costumes were designed and created by Wendy Ponca (Osage) and the late Terry Wann (Osage). Backdrop designer and painter was Alexandra Ponca Stock (Osage).

Stefanie Batten Bland, Jerome Robbins awardee, is an interdisciplinary global artist who interrogates contemporary and historical culture and situates her work at the intersections of dance-theatre, film and installation. A 2021 Baryshnikov Arts Center commissioned artist, and 2021 Toulmin Creator for New York University’s Center for the Ballet Arts, Batten Bland is a choreographer for American Ballet Theatre’s inaugural Women’s Movement Initiative. She created Company SBB in Paris in 2008 and established it in New York City late in 2011.

Warren Queton, former tribal liaison at the OU Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Five Moons Dance Festival planning committee member, said, “A dance festival honoring and celebrating the legacy of the Five Moons ballerinas is long overdue. American Indian people are a dancing people and always have been. Dance is an important part of our identity. It is important to recognize and encourage talent aspiring to follow in the footsteps of the Five Moons and become ballet dancers and choreographers in a field where American Indians are an underrepresented population.