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Margaret Hookham Research Paper

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On May 18th, 1919, Margaret Hookham was born in Reigate, Surreym, England. She later used her grandfather’s name which was Fontes and changed it to Fonteyn for her stage name. Her mother started her in Ballet at a young age. At the age of 8 her father’s work took them to Shanghai where she studied dance with George Goncharov, but when she was 14-years-old she returned to England with her mother. In England she studied with Serfina Astafieva. She then enrolled in Vic Wells Ballet, later named the Royal Ballet, and rose through the ranks to prima. In 1934 she made her debut in “The Nutcracker” as a snowflake, and her first solo in 1935 was in “The Haunted Ballroom” as Young Tregennis, by the founder of the Royal Ballet, Ninette de Valois. …show more content…

She also did other unforgettable roles such as Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake” and Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”.

She married Roberto “Tito” Arias in Paris in 1955. He was a Panamanian delegate with the United Union and was from a powerful family who lost political power. Margot continued to pursue her career and in 1956 was made Dame of the Oder of the British Empire. Her husband in the meantime planned an armed invasion to Panama City to try to get back some of his power, but the invasion failed. Margot’s male dance partners included famous dancers such as Michael Somes, Robert Helpmann, and David Blair. In 1962 when she was thinking of retiring she performed with Rudolf Nureyev. A great partnership began with their first performance of Giselle together. They went on to perform many more such as Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. Her husband was paralyzed from the neck down after being shot in 1964 . It put a financial strain on them paying for his medical care. She danced until she was in her 60's and in the late 1970's she began writing books and doing television presentations. Some of her books were Margot Fontyn: Autobiography, A Dancer's World, and The Magic of Dance. She performed as a dancer for the last time in 1979, and at age 66 she appeared on stage in February 1986 in The Sleeping Beauty as 'The

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