Tagged Royal Ballet

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #4 – Margot Fonteyn

Margot Fonteyn at Number 4 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

Dame Margot Fonteyn is undoubtedly one of the best known names in British dance history and if this list was just about Ballet, she certainly be right at the top.

For many, Fonteyn was just about as close to perfection as you could possibly get in a ballerina, looking every inch a super-star from whatever angle you looked. Watch clips of Margot’s performances and you’ll never see a bad line. She extends every last movement through to its full potential and creates a constant stream of picture-perfect poses that somehow merge into the most beautiful moving portrait. Watching Margot dance is a bit like watching your most perfect dream.

After training with the Vic-Wells Ballet, which later became the Royal Ballet School, Margot rose through the ranks to become Prima Ballerina of The Royal Ballet aged just 20. In her career, she danced the lead role in all the big Ballets, including Swan Lake, Giselle, Cinderella and most notably, The Sleeping Beauty. Fonteyn’s portrayal of Princess Aurora in this well-loved ballet raised the bar so high in terms of technical ability and captivating performance value, that it became the standard for which every ballerina since has aimed.

Click here to watch Margot Fonteyn with Michael Somes in The Sleeping Beauty.

Though still at the very top of her game in 1961 at the age of 42, many expected that Margot was perhaps getting ready to retire from the spotlight. But in that year, she first met Rudolf Nureyev who was 18 years her junior. The incredible rapport and deep connection the two shared sparked a period of incredible creativity and remarkably, a revitalized Margot went on to dance the lead with Rudolf for many, many more years. In fact, Margot only finally hung up her pointe shoes in 1979 at the grand old age of 60.

They say that dancing is a short career, but not if your name is Margot Fonteyn. So for amazing longevity and achieving utter balletic perfection, Margot rides high on the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.