Margot Fonteyn: A Life

Rating:
Summary: Well-written biography of the beloved ballerina
Review: Margot Fonteyn was perhaps the most beloved ballerina of her generation, but until now there hasnt been a full, comprehensive biography of her eventful, colorful life and career. Former ballerina Meredith Daneman has at last given Margot the book she deserves.
Fans of the ballerina and also of ballet in general should get this book. Besides Fonteyn, there are several memorable characters that Daneman brings to life: the Royal Ballet Svengali Frederick Ashton, the indomitable, scheming Ninette de Valois, Fonteyn's ironwilled mother (known as Black Queen), Fonteyn's dastardly husband Tito Arias, Fonteyn's great partner Rudolf Nureyev, Fonteyn's lover Constant Lambert. Daneman describes the ruthless, competitive atmosphere of backstage at a ballet company, a world as entertaining as the onstage performances. About whether Fonteyn herself resorted to backstabbing and scheming, Daneman is ambiguous. She quotes friends as saying Fonteyn was "very competitive" but lets the readers make the final calls about some questionable events: Moira Shearer's fall from grace at Covent Garden, the "grabbing" of Juliet from Kenneth MacMillan's muse Lynn Seymour. Daneman somehow got access to Margot Fonteyn's mothers diaries, which she quotes liberally. Nita Hookham becomes the second heroine of the book: a smart, devoted woman of common sense and humor. If Nita Hookham is the second heroine of the book, then Ninette de Valois is the villainess: a woman who promoted her "favorites" and ruthlessly destroyed careers without a second thought.
As for Fonteyn herself, Daneman is sympathetic but candid. Margaret "Peggy" Hookham comes across as a complex personality. The ballerina who personified British gentility and grace was in her offstage life both reserved and passionate, naive and cunning, dignified and giggly. She was politically obtuse, supporting dictators like the Marcoses or General Pinochet (plus her revolutionary Panamanian husband Tito Arias), and even danced in apartheid South Africa. But she was also remarkably sensitive and supportive of her friend Rudolf Nureyev when he was dying of AIDS, and this is all the more impressive if anyone remembers the paranoid, homophobic atmosphere of the 1980s, even among the "educated" circles. Fonteyn could coldly cut off lovers, but remained slavishly devoted to her philandering husband Tito. She pinched pennies but generously supported her sister-in-law for life. One gets the feeling that Fonteyn grew to be a better person as she aged. Daneman includes enough anecdotes to give the reader a real sense of Margot's personality. A charming, if off-color one: when Ivan Nagy insisted on calling Margot "Dame", she called him "Sir." He explained that in Hungarian, "Sir" means "pubic hair," and from then on he was only "Sir" to her.
Like most biographies Daneman's isn't perfect. Some of it veers on the gossipy -- did we really need testaments from Margot's ex-lovers about how great she was "sexually"? I also felt Daneman was a bit unfair about Nureyev -- she's more judgemental about disapproving than the very genteel Fonteyn ever was. The pictures are surprisingly disappointing, especially for such a photographed figure as Margot. There are, however, some eyebrow-raising pictures of Margot posing topless during vacations with friends.
ETA: one thing I think is important to keep in mind about this book is that you should read it as a historical record not only of a dancer, but of an era in ballet history. The book is very thorough about Fonteyn's career, which went through a lot of "stages". There is quite a bit of backstage talk, and I for one took it with a grain of salt. For one, it is usually "secondhand" -- for instance, "someone heard Lynn Seymour say" rather than "Lynn Seymour said." I suppose this can't be helped but it's one thing to keep in mind.
But these are quibbles for a good addition to any balletomane's library. Daneman is lucky in that she chose a wonderful subject. Margot Fonteyn may not have been perfect, neither as a woman nor as a dancer, but I think readers will close the book with a sense of admiration and affection for the most graceful and enchanting of ballerinas.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent biography
Review: This is a wonderfully researched and written bio of a great ballerina and a fascinating human being. Ms. Daneman has made her work very well; this is certainly the definitive story of Fonteyn's life and her times in the ballet world. Congratulations!

Rating:
Summary: A Glowing Tale of Genius
Review: Throughout her long career, audiences had something like a physical response to Margot Fonteyn dancing. Even now, in film clips, there is something there, something inexplicable that makes you gasp. She strikes you to your deepest core. That thing, of course, was genius. In her outstanding biography of the great British ballerina, Meredith Daneman guides us through a life lived in art. "Margot Fonteyn" is the best sort of biography, one that is as engrossing as a really good novel.

Born Peggy Hookham in northern England, Fonteyn was fortunate to have fine teachers from the start. When her father's business took the family to Shanghai in the late 1920's, Her astute mother found exiled Russian ballerinas to pass their training on to her. They returned to England in the mid-30's and Peggy auditioned for Ninette de Valois' Sadlers Wells ballet company. She was accepted, re-baptized Margot Fonteyn, and danced for Sadlers Wells (later the Royal Ballet) for most of a career that lasted until she was nearly 60 years old.

Forget about anorexia, drug problems, temper tantrums, and injuries. "Simple", and "pure" are two words used to describe her art, and that simplicity carried over into her life. If she had never rocketed to international fame following the company's first New York visit following WWII, it would have been fine with her. She learned and grew from every change she faced-never more obvious than her ability to reach a new level of greatness during her partnership with Rudolf Nureyev. That partnership began when she was on the verge of retirement and extended her career for nearly two decades.

If there is any fault with Daneman's biography, it is that it is a little too adoring. Daneman does not skip over Fonteyn's attraction to unworthy men, notably alky composer Constant Lambert and creepy Panamanian philanderer/thug/husband Tito Arias, but somehow it doesn't show it to detract from her as a person. The photos selected for the book are also a little disappointing. Nonetheless this beautifully written, entrancing biography of genius is a wonderful read and makes you want to see films, video, anything that lets you again experience the joy of Margot dancing.