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Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, 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, with Brazilian ancestry, who was the daughter of Brazilian businessman
Antonio Fontes. 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, after having been trained by some of the greatest teachers of the day -
Olga Preobrajenskaya and Mathilde Kschessinskaya, both of whom trained under Marius
Petipa himself. 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 Le Corsaire Pas de
Deux.
Despite their differences in background, temperament, and a nineteen-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 Dr. Roberto de Arias, a Panamanian diplomat to London
and playboy. 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 sixtieth 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.
Fonteyn was knighted (made a dame) in 1954 at the age of 35.
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Margot
Fonteyn - Manifesting Generator - Biography
