Looking for Margot

Darcey Bussell describes Margot Fonteyn as ‘the dancer who embodies all that is beautiful about the ballet’, an inspiration to Darcey and countless other dancers.
(Image credit: BBC/Matchlight Ltd/Andrew Muggle)

Darcey Bussell describes Margot Fonteyn as ‘the dancer who embodies all that is beautiful about the ballet’, an inspiration to Darcey and countless other dancers.

Darcey Bussell describes Margot Fonteyn as ‘the dancer who embodies all that is beautiful about the ballet’, an inspiration to Darcey and countless other dancers.

Here, she traces Margot’s story through Cambridge, London, New York and Panama, meeting those who knew her and building a portrait of a woman who went from bright-eyed prodigy to a frail, tragic figure who died alone, far from home.

A fascinating and moving tale that features lost love, a failed political coup, prison – and a late career revival that saw a 42-year-old Margot form one of the great stage partnerships when she began dancing with a fiery young Russian by the name of Rudolf Nureyev.