Inspiring women from around the world

Margot Fonteyn

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"We dance with one body, one soul...

For me, Margot is my family"  Rudolf Nureyev

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Prima ballerina of her time. She made ballet more fashionable and accessible than it had been since Diaghilev, with her incomparable grace, imagination and charm. Towards the end of her career, her partnership with Nureyev won them both worldwide fame. She had spent her entire career at the Royal Ballet. On her 60th birthday and final retirement she was awarded the Prima Ballerina Assoluta by Queen Elizabeth II. An honour that she held until her death.

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During Fonteyn's absence from Panama on tour, Tito, her husband would move Anabella Vallarino into their home as his shadow wife and move her out again before Fonteyn's return. On the day of Tito's death, Vallarino committed suicide and the two were buried on the same day.

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"Take your work seriously, but never yourself."

- Margot Fonteyn