Maria Tallchief, Chicago dance legend, heads for the big dance floor in the sky, dead at 88 - She took Rahm Emanuel's ballet secrets with her....

PHOTO: Ballet legend Maria Tallchief, 88, died Thursday. (Tribune 2005 file photo / Michael Tercha)

Hailed for her "thrilling power of momentum," Maria Tallchief was one of the 20th Century's greatest ballerinas, key player in the art of George Balanchine and later a force in the history of Chicago dance.

• Video: Tallchief dancing with Rudolf Nureyev