Thursday, May 29, 2014

Throwback Thursday and Margot Fonteyn




Throwback Thursday and Margot Fonteyn   
       
Margot Fonteyn was born on May 18, 1919, and died on February 21, 1991.  She was lovely, lyrical English ballerina who had an unusually long performing career.   Her real name was Margaret Hookham, and she began her dance training in Hong Kong.  

She went on to study in London and at the Sadler’s Wells Ballet school.  She debuted with the Vic-Wells Ballet, and soon took over roles danced by Alicia Markova, such as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty.   She was a muse for the great English choreographer Frederick Ashton, and he created many roles for her including Symphonic Variations, Daphnis and Chloe, and Ondine.

In 1955 she married Roberto Emilio Arias, former Panamanian ambassador to Great Britain, and around that same time (1954), she became president of the Royal Academy of Dancing.  In the early 1960s she began her famous partnership with Rudolph Nureyev, and she continued to dance into the 1970s when she began to cut back on her performing.

When she retired, she wrote books and remained active in the dance world until she died in 1991.
                                                                                    



Dance History Factoid #31:  
“Margot Fonteyn was a beautiful English ballerina.”


                Link of the Day:
(I love the way she runs down those stairs!)

Quote of the Day:
Don’t think or judge, just listen.”
-Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

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