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"Dame Margot" redirects here. For the medieval trouvère, see Dames Margot and Maroie.

Dame Margot Fonteyn, DBE, (18 May, 1919, Reigate, Surrey, England - 21 February, 1991 Panama City, Panama), the English assoluta, was considered the greatest ballerina of her time.

Early life

Fonteyn was born Margaret ("Peggy") Hookham to an English father and an Irish mother who was the illegitimate daughter of Brazilian businessman Antonio Fontes. Her Brazilian ancestry explains her exotic appearance, and supplied a motivation for her eventual Latin American marriage and residence. Early in her career, Margaret transformed Fontes into Fonteyn (a surname her brother adopted as well) and Margaret into Margot; thus her stage name.

She joined the Royal Ballet (then called the Sadler's Wells Theatre) while still a teenager. By 1939, she was the company's star and the inspiration for many of Sir Frederick Ashton's ballets, such as Ondine, Daphnis and Chloe, and Sylvia. She was especially renowned for her portrayal of Aurora in Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty. Televised versions of Sleeping Beauty and Ashton's version of Cinderella are now available on DVD. Fonteyn also worked with the choreographer Roland Petit and later in life, Martha Graham. In 1949, the Royal Ballet toured the United States and Fonteyn became an instant celebrity.

Dancing with Rudolf Nureyev and others

In the 1940s, she and Robert Helpmann formed a very successful dance partnership, and they toured together for several years. In the 1950s, she danced with Michael Somes. But her greatest partnership emerged at a time when many (including the head of the Royal Ballet, Ninette de Valois) thought she was about to retire. In 1961, Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West, and on February 21, 1962, he and Fonteyn first appeared on stage together, in a performance of Giselle. It was a great success; during the curtain calls Nureyev dropped to his knees and kissed Fonteyn's hand, cementing an on-and-offstage partnership which lasted until her 1979 retirement. Fonteyn and Nureyev became known for inspiring repeated frenzied curtain calls and bouquet tosses.

Ashton choreographed Marguerite and Armand for them, which no other couple danced until the 21st century. They debuted Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet although MacMillan had conceived the ballet for Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable. Fonteyn and Nureyev appeared together in a film version of Swan Lake and Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet, as well as Les Sylphides and the "Slave" pas de deux from Le Corsaire.

Despite their differences in background, temperament, and a 19 year difference in age, Nureyev and Fonteyn became close lifelong friends and were famously loyal to each other. Fonteyn would not approve an unflattering photograph of Nureyev. In 1967, they were arrested after a performance in San Francisco, when the police raided a Haight-Ashbury party to which they had been invited. They remained close even after she retired to a Panama cattle farm, talking on the phone several times a week even though her farmhouse did not have a telephone. When she was treated for cancer, Nureyev paid many of her medical bills and visited her often, despite his busy schedule as a performer and choreographer, as well as his own health problems (he was HIV positive and succumbed to AIDS in 1993). In a documentary about Fonteyn, Nureyev said that they danced with "one body, one soul" and that Margot was "all he had, only her." An observer said that "If most people are at level A, they were at level Z."

In the extremely competitive world of ballet, Fonteyn was renowned for her consummate professionalism and loyalty to her friends. Her dancing stood out for its lyricism, grace, and passion. Although Fonteyn was the Royal Ballet's biggest star, its director, Dame Ninette de Valois, cultivated other talents, so that the Royal Ballet of Fonteyn's day also included Nadia Nerina, Svetlana Beriosova, Lynn Seymour, and Antoinette Sibley.

Relationships

During the 1940s, Fonteyn had a long relationship with composer Constant Lambert which did not lead to marriage. In 1955, Fonteyn married Roberto Arias, a Panamanian diplomat. Their marriage was initially a rocky one due to his infidelities. She was arrested when he attempted a coup against the Panamanian government. In 1965, a rival Panamanian politician shot Arias, leaving him a quadriplegic for the rest of his life. The cost of his medical care is a reason why Fonteyn's career lasted until 1979, her 60th year, despite her suffering from an arthritic foot. Upon her retirement, the Royal Ballet honoured her with the title prima ballerina assoluta. She ended her days in Panama, remaining loyal to Arias in part because she was very devoted to his children from an earlier marriage. Because Arias's medical bills drained her finances, the Royal Ballet held a special "gala" in 1990 for her benefit. Shortly after his death, she was diagnosed with a cancer that proved fatal.

Legacy

Fonteyn was knighted (made a dame) in 1954 at the age of 35.

She was chancellor of the University of Durham from 1981 to 1990. The main hall in the Student Union building is named after her.

The folk group Eddie From Ohio has a song dedicated to her.

Main roles

• The Haunted Ballroom — Cinderella
• Les Sylphides — Don Juan
• Swan Lake — Sylvia
• Apparitions — The Firebird
• Aida — Birthday Offering
• Nocturne — Ondine
• Horoscope — Night Shadow
• Pomona — Pelleas et Melisande
• The judgement of Paris — Beauty and the Beast
• The sleeping Beauty — Gayanch
• Carnaval — The Dying Swan
• Lysistrata — Romeo and Juliet
• Giselle — Garden Party
• A Wedding Bouquet — In Nightly Revels
• The Wanderer — The Quest
• Hamlet — Les Demoiselles de
• The Fairy Queen — la nuit

Quotes

• "The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous."
• "Great artists are people who find the way to be themselves in their art. Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike."
• "Life offstage has sometimes been a wilderness of unpredictables in an unchoreographed world."
• "Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable."

Reference

• Daneman, Meredith, 2005. Margot Fonteyn: A Life. The biography.

External links

• Brief bio at Ballet.co.uk
• The Ballerina Gallery - Margot Fonteyn
• Margot Fonteyn at PeoplePlay UK
• Brief bio at Surrey Choicenet
• Brief bio at "My Hero" project
• Reviews of Daneman biography:
  • The Guardian (London).
  • The Scotsman.

• 1919 births
• 1991 deaths
• Ballerinas
• English ballet dancers
• Cancer deaths
• Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• Divas
• Natives of Surrey
• Prima ballerina assoluta
• People known by pseudonyms
• Chancellors of Durham University