Margot Fonteyn: A Brief Biography

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Margot Fonteyn, whom was originally named Margaret Hookham, was born on May 18th, 1919 in Reigate, Surrey, England. She had an English father and an Irish/ Brazilian mother. They placed her in her first ballet class at the early age of four, along with her older brother. At the age of eight, she moved to Hong Kong, China. There, she was under the training of a Russian ballet teacher; George Goncharov. She lived in China for six years until she returned to London at the age of fourteen. She had to move back in order to pursue a career in ballet. Post return, Margot joined the Vic Wells Ballet School, now known as the Royal Ballet School. The following year of her enrollment, a principal lead dancer; Alicia Markova left the company. This gave Margot an opportunity to take principal roles that were left vacant. Some of them being Giselle, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. Margot also developed fantastic dance partnerships with multiple people during her career. Margot and dancer Robert Helpmann successfully toured for several years. In the 1950's, Margot also danced with Michael Somes. Although both partnerships were wonderful and …show more content…

Roberto Arias. He was a Panamanian diplomat to London. A coup of the Panamanian government happened, causing Margot to be arrested for her involvement. Unfortunately, in 1964, Dr.Arias was shot, making his quadriplegic for the remainder of his life. Due to his medical bills, Margot did not enter retirement until 1979, at the age of 60 years old. But even though she was retired, when her husband passed, the Royal Ballet School help a fund raising gala for her benefit. Unfortunately, Margot was later diagnosed with cancer, which took her life on February 21st, 1991. Margot passed, fighting a hard fight in Panama City, Panama. Although cancer took her body, her dancing spirit and accomplishments still remain very known in today's world of

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