M. Fonteyn

Imagine you’re on stage, with people taking photos of you, AND you are the best dancer. That was Margot Fonteyn. Margot Fonteyn, was an amazing ballerina in the whole of the 20th century. She was born in18 May 1919 but, sadly died on 21st of February 1991 aged 71. She was born as Margaret Hookham in Reigate, England. She was one of the best dancers of all time. She was famous for her performances in Swan Lake Sleeping Beauty and Giselle. In the 1960s she was teamed with a Russian ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, at the Royal Ballet of England.

EARLY LIFE       

Margot was born from a English father and a half - Brazilian Mother. Very early in Fonteyns career, Magaret the Fontes  into Fonteyn (a surname her big brother got as well)  and Magaret into Margot. Her fathers family were very familiar with music and literature, but her father was an engineer.

When Fonteyn was four her mother signed her for ballet classes with her older brother. At the age of eight she made a long journey to china, with her mother and  father, who had taken a job with a tobacco company there. Margot's brother, Felix remained at his school. For 6 years she lived in china in a place called, Tientsin then in Shanghai, where she studied ballet with a Russian ballet tutor, Goerge Goncharov. Then her mother bought her back to London when she was 14 to make her ballet career come true. Continuing to work in Shanghai, her father had to go To world war two, to defeat the invading Japanese.

In 1933 , she joined the Vic-Wells Ballet school, now known as the Royal ballet school of England. She trained under the direction of Niette de Valois and teachers including Olga Preobrajenska and Mathilde Kschessinska. After starting with the Vic-Wells Ballet, she rose quickly through the levels of the company.by 1939 she had preformed principle roles in Giselle, Swan Lake and The sleeping beauty and was appointed prima ballerina.

DANCING WITH RUDOLPH NUREYEV
Fonteyn began her greatest partnership, when many people thought she was about to retire. (including the head of the royal ballet Niette de Valois). In 1961 Rudolph Nureyev came to the west, and on 
February 21 1962 she and Nureyev preformed the wonderful Giselle. She was 42 and he was 24. 
Their performance was a great success, and during the curtain calls Nureyev dropped to his knees and kissed Fonteyn's hand.They were partners, until Fonteyn's retirement, in 1979, they were very loyal to
 each other. Fonteyn and Nureyev were known for lots of curtain calls and bouquet tosses. Fonteyn and Nureyev preformed Ashton's marguerite and Armand for them. Which no other couple danced 
like until the 21st century. They danced Kennetth Macmillan's Romeo and Juliet. They eventually 
went on film,  Romeo and Juliet, swan lake, Les Sylphides, La Corsaire pas de Deux. Despite in the background with a 19 year gap in ages but they got so close together Rudolph said about her:

 "At the end of " Lac des Cygnes"  when she left the stage in her great white tutu I would of followed her to the end of the world." 

Well known Michael Peto took many photos of Nureyev and Fonteyn to make their dancing come alive and widely known.


HONOURS
Fonteyn was awarded DBE (made a Dame) when she was 37 in 1956
Margot was one of the 5 "woman of achievement" and was selected for a set of British stamps issued in August,1996
In her home town of Reigate, stands a statue of her.