Fonteyn, Dame Margot, in full Margot Fonteyn de Arias, n�e Margaret Hookham 1919-91
English ballerina

Born in Reigate, Surrey, she studied dance in Hong Kong and in London under Nikolai Legat and Ninette de Valois among others, then joined the Vic-Wells Ballet, which later became Sadler's Wells Ballet and finally the Royal Ballet, with which she spent her entire career. She created many roles under the choreography of Ninette de Valois and Sir Frederick Ashton, among them her first solo appearance, The Haunted Ballroom (1939), Symphonic Variations (1946) and The Fairy Queen (1946). She rose in the Royal Ballet to become one of the most impressive technicians of the 20th century. Her career was extended and enhanced in the 1960s by her acclaimed partnership with Rudolph Nureyev. She performed work by Roland Petit and Kenneth MacMillan, and also wrote and introduced a six-part television series, The Magic of Dance (1979). Her publications include an autobiography (1975) and a study of Anna Pavlova. She married Roberto Emilio Arias (1918-90), then Panamanian ambassador to the Court of St James in London, in 1955.

Bibliography: Keith Money, Fonteyn: The Making of a Legend (1973)