© Viking 2004 Helen Bishop with a second review of the Daneman book Alex Martin's Fonteyn memories Margot Fonteyn in Ballet.co Legends section Order the book from www.dancebooks.co.uk reviews by Alex Martin

Quite frankly, when told of the existence of this book, I had decided that it was not for me - I so disapprove of 'tell all' books, and the constant examination and re-examination of the life and private thoughts and deeds of the late unhappy Princess of Wales, and of many others, had frankly appalled me. "Rest in Peace" has now become a mockery, and short of digging up the actual bodies to make an extra buck most current authors draw the line not at all, in fact they do not seem to realise that there IS a line...

However, a friend, visiting the local library, looking across the room at the shelf of new issues, said to himself "That's a familiar face" and approaching nearer was faced with the beautiful photograph of Fonteyn which graces the cover of this book, and knowing of my great affection for and admiration of this marvellous woman, obtained the book and handed it to me, saying "I thought you would be interested in this" - so what could I do but read it?

She was, there is no doubt, a most remarkable person. Rather like Her Majesty, duty, duty, duty was the mainspring which ran her life - never late for rehearsals, no tantrums, no scenes, always at her best in an emergency, and at the same time, possessed of a marvellous ability to put people at their ease in a moment, and utterly beloved by all with whom she worked, whether individuals or entire dance companies.

As a performer she had the incredible ability to rise to the occasion, and although she was apparently terrified of facing her first appearance in New York, yet she delivered a performance so utterly overwhelming that the audience were equalling overwhelmed, the applause louder and longer than ever heard before, and the final curtain calls lasted for more than thirty minutes.

In that audience only two people reacted differently - Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine; neither spoke of the dancing, both praised the conducting of Constant Lambert. Later, George Balanchine, who, sad to say, intensely disliked any other dance company or dancer not his own, said of Fonteyn "Hands like spoons, can't dance a step".
 

Hardback book cover
© Viking 2004

Some years ago, before her illness and death, she had written her autobiography, and throughout this new book she is gently chided for omitting details of her private life - yet I am tempted to write Ms. Daneman and ask her what facts about HER life are there that she herself would conceal?- as have we all - who - except perhaps Mother Teresa - would care for the world to know absolutely everything about their life, their doings, their thoughts?

An extraordinary fact emerges that this so-beloved lady seems to have found herself surrounded by monstrous people, and made no complaint of the fact - her husband, one of the greatest philanderers of all time, Nureyev, who treated her so badly at rehearsals, swearing and screaming at her (He was 'no gentleman' as the great French dancer Jean Babilee remarked), Ninette de Valois - 'a savage savage woman' as Clive Barnes called her - unforgiving of dancers who failed to live up to her expectations, and patently openly hating other company members, and Constant Lambert her first lover and seducer, a brilliant conductor and composer, a dreadful drunkard, for whom she often had to search from bar to bar, to assure herself of his safety.

We are told that she was a trifle withdrawn, reserved and sometimes distant - yet who but she could have the delight of describing her later performances thus - " I come on and smile and do a few steps just to keep things going" so deliciously depracatory.

The description of her later life, her dreadful illness, and her decision to die, just about broke my heart - I knew her slightly, we spoke at some small length three times, I was in the company when she was at her peak, and like everyone else I suppose that I loved her and was protective of her when possible, and so it was with the utmost horror that in this book I read a quoted remark about her genitals - not even Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, Maria Callas, or Jacqueline Kennedy - so often the subjects of 'tell all' - were subject to such an indignity - Ms. Daneman, Ms. Daneman, this, this, should never never have been written.