Trivia

George Balanchine said of Fonteyn "Hands like spoons, can't dance a step", which was typical for Balanchine, who only commented on dancers with whom he wanted to work. After that they started working together on a ballet for Sadler's Wells.

She was named "Prima Ballerina Assolutta".

By 1990, she had undergone three operations and was bedridden. Out of money, Fonteyn began to sell her jewelry to pay for her care, and Nureyev anonymously helped to pay the bills.

As her health worsened, she received a regular flood of messages and flowers from well-wishers, including Queen Elizabeth II and the President of Panam.

In 1989, shortly before the death of her husband, Fonteyn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Having used up all her savings to care for Arias in his long infirmity, and now retired without a pension, she dreaded the ordeal. Her step-daughter, Querube Arias, cared for her and accompanied her to Houston, Texas on her regular trips to M.D. Anderson Hospital. Nureyev was one of the few people she told of her problems and he arranged to visit her regularly in Houston, despite his busy schedule as a performer and choreographer.

Fonteyn's husband (Panamanian politician Roberto Arias) was shot during an assassination attempt and became a quadriplegic, requiring constant care for the remainder of his life.

In May 1990, a gala was held at Covent Gardens to raise money for her care. Placido Domingo volunteered to sing and both Somes and Nureyev danced. The event was attended by more than 2,000 guests, including Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dame Ninette de Valois, raising £250,000 for a trust fund to provide for Fonteyn's support.

Shortly before her death, Fonteyn converted to Roman Catholicism so that she could have her ashes buried in the same tomb as Arias.

Her brother, Felix, who became a specialist of dance photography, eventually adopted the same surname.

The daughter of a globe trotting engineer she was enrolled at Miss Grace Busutows academy in Ealing in 1926 then joined Saddlers Wells in the mid 30's, She married former Panamanian diplomat Roberto Aris, in 1955 there was an assassination attempt on him in 1965 which left him paralysed and confined to a wheelchair,.

Her mother was an illegitimate daughter of a Portuguese man and an English woman. His surname was Fontes, the Portuguese for Fountains, which gave Fonteyn.

She was awarded the DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1956 Queen's New Year Honours List for her services to ballet.

She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1951 King's Birthday Honours List for her services to ballet.

At four years of age her mother signed her and her older brother up for ballet classes. While she went on to be a professional Prima Ballerina, her brother went onto be a professional photographer.

She was the precious few dancers to remain physically active performing dance all the way to her death.

Robert Helpmann and Fonteyn were especially popular during World War II, and danced a large classical repertoire. He left Sadler's Wells in 1950 but occasionally returned as guest artist and choreographer.

Both she and Robert Helpmann were stars with the Vic-Wells Ballet in their youth, particularly when Alicia Markova left the Company in 1935. She called Helpmann her all-time favorite dance partner.

She was chancellor of the University of Durham from 1981 to 1990. The main hall in Dunelm House, the Student Union building, is named the "Fonteyn Ballroom".

Another honor in requiem for her is the named "Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet" in Peekskill, New York.

There is a life-sized bronze statue of Fonteyn in her hometown of Reigate, Surrey.

In 1933 Fonteyn joined the Vic-Wells Ballet School (now named the Royal Ballet of London) and achieved principal status by 1939.

In 1972, Fonteyn went into semi-retirement, although she continued to dance periodically until the end of the decade.

In 1961, when Fonteyn was considering retirement, Rudolf Nureyev defected from the Kirov Ballet while dancing in Paris. Fonteyn, though reluctant to partner with him because of their 19-year age difference, danced with him in his début with the Royal Ballet in Giselle on 21 February 1962. The duo immediately became an international sensation, each dancer pushing the other to their best performances.

In February 1990 the Public Broadcasting Service aired The Margot Fonteyn Story as part of its series Great Performances. In the documentary, Nureyev said that they danced with "one body, one soul". Fonteyn's biographer, Daneman, said their uncanny bond of empathy went beyond the understanding most people have for each other: "Most people are on level A. They were on level Z".

She retired to Panama, where she spent her time writing books, raising cattle, and caring for her husband.

In the early 1990s, the fossil plant Williamsonia margotiana was named after Fonteyn.