Margot Fonteyn Biography - Tapa dura

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 Fonteynas early years and her intense connection to her mother, the aBlack Queena; her loves in bohemian thirties and forties London; her relationship with her balletic Svengali, Frederick Ashton; her conquest of New York with the Sadleras Wells Ballet; and her final years in Panama with her husband, Roberto Arias. Daneman reflects on Fonteynas alyricism and limpid purity of line, so potent with theatrical moment that even film cannot capture ita and the world of ballet from the birth of the British Royal Ballet to Rudolf Nureyev, her final partner and rumored lover. Balletomanes and readers of biography alike will applaud Danemanas vivid, insightful, and highly entertaining work. Based on more than ten years of research and lavishly illustrated with beautiful and evocative photographs, "Margot Fonteyn" is an exquisite biography that is supremely worthy of its alluring subject.

Meredith Daneman, a graduate of LondonÂ’s Royal Ballet School and former member of the Australian Ballet Company, has published four novels.