With May being Margot Fonteyn Month here on the blog, I thought the best way to kick the month off with a brief introduction. While older generations are most likely very familiar with her already, she is sadly lesser-known to a lot of younger people. And although many people assume that ballet dancers are only known in the dance world, Fonteyn was a global celebrity. Throughout the month I will be looking at many aspects of her life. However, today we will start at the beginning: who is Margot Fonteyn?
Who is Peggy Hookham?
To answer our main question today, we first need to ask: who is Peggy Hookham? Margot Fonteyn was actually born as Peggy Hookham in Reigate, Surrey in 1919 to Felix and Hilda. When they moved to Ealing in 1924, Peggy’s mother sent her to ballet lessons and actually watched the classes to learn the basics in order to help her daughter herself. Hilda would remain incredibly involved in her daughter’s life and career, and even earned herself the nickname of “the black queen” for always hovering backstage.
A Transatlantic Childhood
From a very young age, Fonteyn’s parents moved the family frequently. Her older brother, also Felix, stayed at a boarding school in England but the family moved to Louisville, Kentucky first. In 1928, they then moved to Tianjin, followed by Hong Kong briefly and then finally settled in Shanghai in 1931. This period would be crucial in Fonteyn’s life, as she studied under former Russian dancers George Goncharov and Vera Volkova. At 14, Hilda moved her daughter back to the UK to continue her ballet training, as she showed great promise. Personally, it was a difficult time as her father had been having an affair and wrote to her mother to request a divorce.
The Beginnings of Fonteyn’s Career
When she returned to London, Fonteyn initially studied under Serafina Astafieva (another former Russian dancer), but after being discovered by Dame Ninette de Valois, Fonteyn was invited to join the Vic-Wells Ballet School. The school would go on to become the two organisations of The Royal Ballet and The Royal Ballet School. She first performed as a dancer in 1933, though was credited as an actress, and appeared as a Nutcracker snowflake in 1934.
Becoming Margot Fonteyn
Making the jump from Peggy, a nickname of Margaret, to Margot, another nickname for Margaret, isn’t huge. However, Hookham to Fonteyn is quite a leap without some background. Her mother was the illegitimate child of Brazilian businessman, Antonio Gonçalves Fontes. As an illegitimate child, she didn’t use her father’s name, and when they inquired about using the Fontes name for Margot’s career, they flat out refused. So, Margot and her mother decided on using the Fontes-adjacent name of Fontene and altered the spelling to become Fonteyn.
A Blinding British Star
I have a post getting into her career on stage written for later in the month. To briefly cover it, she immediately became a trusted member of the Vic-Wells Ballet company. Sir Frederick Ashton, a famed and beloved British dancer and choreographer, first created a role on Fonteyn in 1935, and their professional relationship would last for decades. Quickly after principal dancer Alicia Markova left the company (also in 1935), Fonteyn took her place.
The company toured throughout the war years, and when in London, would perform several times a week for soldiers. However in post-War London, the company flourished. It moved to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in 1946, and received its new name as the Royal ballet in 1956.
Notably, Fonteyn was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1951 for her contributions to British ballet. This is no small feat, and even more incredible when you remember that her Nureyev years were still yet to come. (More on that in her career post!) She is also the only British prima ballerina assoluta in the Royal Ballet’s history.
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I will leave the story here for now- there will be a post on her dancing career, one on her personal life, and her costumes, among others!
Now that we’ve explored who Margot Fonteyn is, we will be heading into her career on the stage next…
Cheers,
The Historian
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