Meredyth daneman margot fonteyn autobiography

  • Margot Fonteyn began life on the 18th of May, 1919 in Reigate, Surrey, as plain Peggy Hookham.
  • Margot Fonteyn: A Life is the first complete biography of the dancer; Fonteyn herself wrote an autobiography, described by one reviewer as "guarded," in.
  • The legend of Margot Fonteyn has touched every ballet dancer who has come after her, and her genius endures in the memory of anyone who saw her dance.

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    Margot Fonteyn: A Lifeis the first complete biography of the dancer; Fonteyn herself wrote an autobiography, described by one reviewer as "guarded," in 1976.

    Daneman uncovers the life behind Fonteyn's legendary stage presence: known for "soft, unshowy lyricism and limpid purity of line [that] have entered the poetic imagery of our age": as well as the more legendary aspects of her biography, including her affairs and her marriage to Robert (Tito) Arias, a Panamanian politician.

    Fonteyn was born Margaret Evelyn Hookham, and known as "Peggy"; the name she gave herself is a version of "Fontes," her Irish-Brazilian mother's family name. Her ambitious mother, known in the dance world as the Black Queen, enrolled her at age 14 in Ninette de Valois' Sadler's Wells Ballet School; by the time she was 16, Fonteyn was dancing starring roles in the company that would later become the Royal Ballet.

    Much of what is described as the "English style" of ballet, which blossomed after World War

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    Margot Fonteyn

    September 19, 2007
    I gained an enormous appreciation for this great artist when my father, after telling me about a Fonteyn/Nureyev performance he had seen in Europe, bought me this book. It's a fully-fleshed out biography and leaves no stone unturned (although I could have done without a salacious comment or two allegedly made by Constant Lambert...that taught me nothing about Margot, her artistry, or her life). Her work ethic was something for the ages, and there will never be another like her. Her simplicity, economy of movement and her adherence to truth (at least in dance) were her hallmarks. She's the Peggy Fleming (or the Michelle Kwan) of the dance world.

    While reading this book, I became so fascinated that I repeatedly went to YouTube to watch taped performances of "Romeo and Juliet", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake". (I never was able to locate "Ondine", unfortunately.) Her personal life after she marries Roberto De Arias reads like a complete reinvention

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    Margot Fonteyn

    The legend of Margot Fonteyn has touched every ballet dancer who has come after her, and her genius endures in the memory of anyone who saw her dance. Yet until now, the complete story of her life has remained untold. Meredith Daneman, a novelist and former dancer, reveals the fascinating story of Peggy Hookham, a little girl from suburban England, who grew up to become a Dame of the British Empire and the most famous ballerina in the world.

    This completely riveting and definitive biography chronicles Fonteyn’s early years and her intense connection to her mother, the “Black Queen”; her loves in bohemian thirties and forties London; her relationship with her balletic Svengali, Frederick Ashton; her conquest of New York with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet; and her final years in Panama with her husband, Roberto Arias. Daneman reflects on Fonteyn’s “lyricism and limpid purity of line, so potent with theatrical moment that even film cannot capture it” and the world of b

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