Margot Fonteyn by Meredith Daneman

Margot Fonteyn

A Life

Meredith Daneman

Penguin Publishing Group · Print & ebook · October 4, 2005

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Who it’s for
A sensitive life of Fonteyn, told through ballet insight and memories from those who knew her.
Themes
Margot Fonteyn’s ballet career, Mother-daughter relationship, Dancers’ personal relationships
Genres
Lives in Entertainment, Ballet & Classical Dance, Women's Lives

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About this book

Margot Fonteyn began life on the 18th of May, 1919 in Reigate, Surrey, as plain Peggy Hookham. She ended it on the 21st of February, 1991, as Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Dame of the British Empire and the most legendary dancer since Pavlova. Meredith Daneman, with her own extensive background in ballet, tells Fonteyn’s story in vivid prose with insight and sensitivity.

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Drawing upon extensive research, countless interviews, and exclusive access to never-before-seen letters and diaries—including those of Fonteyn’s extraordinary and devoted mother—Daneman presents firsthand remembrances of Fonteyn from a vast array of people who knew her and danced with her during the course of her lengthy career. Margot Fonteyn contains revelations not found in any other account of the ballerina, from insights into Fonteyn’s private world (especially regarding her relationship with her mother, the “Black Queen”) to her feelings about her fellow dancers and, of course, the men in her life—including choreographer Frederick Ashton, her husband Roberto Arias, and her long-time dance partner and rumored lover Nureyev.

A Dancer’s Inner Circle

A sensitive life of Fonteyn, told through ballet insight and memories from those who knew her.

Come here for

  • Firsthand memories from dancers and people close to Fonteyn
  • Ballet expertise alongside a long career and private-world revelations

Expect

  • Vivid, sensitive prose grounded in research, interviews, letters, and diaries
  • A life shaped by professional and personal relationships

Where it sits

Ballet & Classical Dance79%
Lives in Entertainment78%
Women's Lives63%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Lives in Entertainment
  • Women's Lives
  • Ballet & Classical Dance
Authors
Meredith Daneman
Publisher
Penguin Publishing Group
Published
October 4, 2005
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Margot Fonteyn’s ballet career · Mother-daughter relationship · Dancers’ personal relationships
Reading lane
Lives in Entertainment