Margot Fonteyn

• Born: 1919
• Died: 1991
• Active: '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s
• Genres: Classical

Biography

Dame Margot Fonteyn (born: Margaret Hookham) was England's grand lady of ballet. Knighted by the British Empire in 1956, Fonteyn combined grace, technical skill and imagination. Best remembered for her portrayal of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Fonteyn created numerous role for ballets by choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton. Making her debut in 1934 with Vic-Wells Ballet Company, later renamed Sadler's Wells Ballet Company and, then, the Royal Ballet Company, Fonteyn continued to dance well into her sixties. In the 1960s and '70s, she collaborated with Russian-born dancer Rudolf Nureyev. In 1979, she received the rare title, "Prima Ballerina Absoluta". Fonteyn's skills as a dancer were apparent from an early age. Starting lessons at the age of four, she went on to study in London with Russian teacher and dancer Seraphima Astafieva. Although she began her association with the Vic-Wells Ballet Company as a chorus dancer, she assumed roles previously danced by Alicia Markova within a year. By 1940, she was accepted as a prima ballerina. In 1954, Fonteyn became president of the Royal Academy of Dancing. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide

• Born: May 18, 1919 in Reigate, Surrey, England
• Died: Feb 21, 1991 in Panama City, Panama
• Occupation: Actor, Writer
• Active: '50s-'80s
• Major Genres: Dance, Theater
• Career Highlights: An Evening with the Royal Ballet, Nureyev, Swan Lake (Vienna State Opera Ballet)
• First Major Screen Credit: The Sleeping Beauty (Sadler's Wells Ballet) (1955)

Biography

Discovered in her teens by ballet dancer/choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton, Margot Fonteyn performed with such prestigious companies as Sadler's Wells and the Royal Ballet of Great Britain. Teamed with Ashton on-stage from the mid-'30s, she was instrumental in developing the "English" style of ballet, more reserved and refined than the accepted European school. On the verge of retirement in the early '60s, Fonteyn returned to the stage as the partner of Russian ballet artist Rudolph Nureyev. Despite their polar-opposite temperaments, Fonteyn and Nureyev matriculated into one of the greatest dance teams of the 20th century; their artistry has been preserved for generations to come in such "concert" films as Romeo and Juliet and Le Danseur. Retiring permanently in 1981, she spent her last decade coaching others in the ballet roles that had won her fame. Margot Fonteyn was the wife of Panamanian diplomat Roberto Arias, who in 1964 was permanently paralyzed in an assassination attempt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nureyev Buy this Movie	The Margot Fonteyn Story Buy this Movie	Fonteyn and Nureyev: The Perfect Partnership Buy this Movie	I Am a Dancer Buy this Movie
Swan Lake (Vienna State Opera Ballet) Buy this Movie	Romeo and Juliet Buy this Movie	An Evening with the Royal Ballet Buy this Movie	The Royal Ballet Buy this Movie

Dame Margot Fonteyn (born Margaret Hookham; 1919-1991) was an outstanding and beloved classical ballerina with an extensive career, from 1934 to 1979. She danced for England's Royal Ballet, putting British ballet on the international map.

Margot Fonteyn was born in Reigate, England, on May 18, 1919 as Margaret Hookham. Her father was British and her mother, Hilda, was a daughter of an Irish mother and a Brazilian father. She had one brother, Felix. They grew up happily in the London suburb of Ealing. She began dance classes at age four at a local dance school. Her father accepted a position as chief engineer of a tobacco company in Shanghai when Fonteyn was eight years old. In Shanghai she took ballet lessons from the Russian George Goncharov. She loved to move and was always creating dances for herself. At age 14 her mother brought her to London to give her a chance to develop a dancing career. She started taking lessons with Serafina Astafieva, and a little later she went to the Sadler's Wells Ballet School with Vera Volkova. When she danced in England she got her stage name, Margot Fonteyn, which indirectly evolved from her mother's family name, Fontes.

Fonteyn devoted her entire career to the Royal Ballet. This company was founded by Ninette de Valois in 1928 as the Vic-Wells/Sadler's Wells Ballet. De Valois believed in Fonteyn's talent and pushed her through difficult moments. In her autobiography Fonteyn recalls her thoughts whenever faced with a new step: "What a beautiful step. I shall never be able to do it."

Her debut was as a snowflake in The Nutcracker in 1934. The next year a wealth of dance roles in the standard classics, such as The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, and Swan Lake, became open to the young Margot due to the departure of the great ballerina Alicia Markova. Fonteyn loved to become the romantic heroines. Her first major role was in Frederick Ashton's new ballet Le Baiser de la Fee in 1935. Her collaboration with choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton was exceptional. Fonteyn was his muse. In her autobiography she tells that although she had to work hard to master his creations, her happiest moments on stage were in Ashton ballets. He created leading roles for her in Apparitions, Nocturne, Les Patineurs, A Wedding Bouquet, Horoscope, The Wise Virgins, Dante Sonata, The Quest, The Wanderer, Daphnis and Chloë, and Ondine. De Valois also created roles for Fonteyn in Orpheus and Euridyce and Don Quichotte. She danced in revivals of Firebird and Petrouchka from the Diaghilev Ballets, staged by Leonide Massine. She was the first ballerina in George Balanchine's Ballet Imperial. During World War II the company had a full and hectic schedule. They were performing for all kinds of audiences, including the troops in Brussels. Her first performance in the United States in 1949 was triumphantly received.

Margot Fonteyn was at her best in a pas de deux. She loved working with a partner. She danced with Robert Helpmann and Michael Somes, each for many years. She appeared with Roland Petit for Les Ballets de Paris in Les Demoiselles de la Nuit in 1948. In her forties she started to think about retirement, but instead revived her career. She met Rudolf Nureyev, who had just left Russia at age 23. They became a dynamic team. The combination of his spirit and her technique, which was better than it had ever been before, made it joint artistry. They performed Swan Lake, Giselle, and Romeo and Juliet. Ashton created Marguerite et Armand and modern dance choreographer Martha Graham created Lucifer for them. For the next 15 years they performed all over the world. In 1965, an anecdote says, they once received a 40-minute ovation and had 43 curtain calls.

Fonteyn was the most versatile British ballerina after World War II. Her pale face, black hair, luminous eyes, and engaging smile were her trademarks. With her total musicality, her beautiful physique, her soft style of movement, her gentle loving manner, and her exquisite lines, she created a strong connection with audiences all over the world. She especially stood out in lyrical roles. She could dance the most difficult choreography with a disarming ease. Her presentation of Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty is considered the ultimate interpretation of that role. She had an extraordinarily long career. At age 60 she had her farewell performance in London's Royal Opera House.

Her personal life started relatively late. Until age 35 her ballet career was all-consuming. In 1955, at age 36, she married in Paris a man she had met in her youth-Robert E. Arias, "Tito," the son of the former president of Panama. They met international celebrities and diplomats. He became the Panamanian ambassador in London and was actively involved in the politics of Panama. Attacked by a political opponent, he became paralyzed. The couple continued their separate careers, yet always remained connected, even when geography set them apart.

In 1951 Fonteyn was decorated a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and in 1956 she became Dame of the Order of the British Empire, after which she was known as Dame Margot Fonteyn. In 1979 she received from the Royal Ballet in England the title "prima ballerina assoluta," a title only given to three ballerinas in the 20th century. She became president of the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1954 and annually organized and presented a gala matinee, persuading famous dancers from all the major companies to appear. She received several awards and honorary doctorates. She wrote her autobiography while still dancing in 1975. In 1979 she presented the television series and book "The Magic of Dance." A documentary was made on her Panamanian ranch to celebrate her 70th birthday. She died on February 21, 1991, at age 72, two years after her husband.

Further Reading

Probably the best source of information is Margot Fonteyn, An Autobiography (1969). K. Money wrote The Art of Margot Fonteyn (London, 1965) and The Making of a Legend (London, 1973). Dance magazine did a portfolio on Fonteyn in July 1973. A book about dance history mixed with personal experiences is The Magic of Dance (1979) by Margot Fonteyn.

For more information on Dame Margot Fonteyn, visit Britannica.com.

Fonteyn, (Dame) Margot (orig. Peggy Hookham;b Reigate, 18 May 1919, d Panama City, 21 Feb. 1991). British ballerina who became the most internationally famous dancer of her age. She studied with H. Bosustov in Ealing, with G. Goncharov in Shanghai, and with N. Legat and Astafieva in London before being accepted at Sadler's Wells School in 1934. In the same year she made her debut with the Vic-Wells Ballet as a Snowflake in The Nutcracker and after Markova's departure from the company in 1935 she began to dance ballerina roles, including Markova's role in Rio Grande and Odette in Swan Lake, as well as creating her first major role, the Fiancée in Ashton's Le Baiser de la fée. By 1939 she had danced Giselle and Aurora as well as becoming established as Ashton's muse, creating roles in Apparitions (1936), Les Patineurs (1937), and A Wedding Bouquet (1937). During the war she toured widely with the company and afterwards matured into the supreme exponent of the British ballet style. Although she was not a brilliant virtuoso the exceptional beauty of her dancing was produced by a combination of qualities—great musicality, an apparently instinctive purity of line, lyrical expressiveness, and a rare intimacy which she established with audiences. She continued to create many new roles in, for example, Ashton's Symphonic Variations (1946), Scènes de Ballet (1948), Daphnis and Chloe (1951), and Ondine (1958) as well as Petit's Les Demoiselles de la nuit (1948). After the war she was international guest artist with various companies including Ballets de Paris (1948) and in 1959 she loosened her ties with the Royal Ballet to become a guest artist. In 1961 she danced with Nureyev for the first time in a charity gala and their ensuing partnership brought her a new artistic lease of life which lasted for a decade-and-a-half. His flamboyant Russian technique reacted extravagantly with her more English reserve to create the most famous partnership in ballet history. They appeared in the premiere of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet (1965) and created the title roles in Ashton's Marguerite and Armand (1963). In 1979 she presented the television series The Magic of Dance and in the same year was awarded the title prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet, one among many distinctions which also included Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956, Order of the Finnish Lion in 1960, and several honorary doctorates. Many of her performances have been filmed for television. In 1955 she married Panamanian politician Roberto Arias who ten years later was paralysed by the bullets of a would-be assassin. Her autobiography Margot Fonteyn was published in London, 1975 and New York, 1976.

Quotes:

"Take your work seriously, but never yourself."

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)