Margot Fonteyn A Ballerina And A Ballet Historian

 

Photo Credit- Margot Fonteyn as Odette from Swan Lake, 1951, Royal Ballet from Ballet The Definitive Illustrated Story  Consultant- Viviana Durante

Margot Fonteyn was a phenomenal ballet dancer of the Royal Ballet in London and a global star, but did you know she was also a brilliant ballet history historian? One of the books she presented and collaborated on was on her favorite ballet dancer who inspired her: Anna Pavlova, and Fonteyn warmly explains how Pavlova's words affected her. Ballet history was one of Margot Fonteyn's deepest passions, and why she, other than Pavlova, is one of my most significant role models and inspirations because she saw how vital historical preservation was in ballet history. A view I share.

"These words have such a clear, clean aura of truth that I feel they are an important key to the woman and artist I hold above all others in the long history of ballet. After all, from what does an artist create his art if not from things seen, heard, taught and experienced, and from his mortal and spiritual beliefs?  Anna Pavlova was perhaps more than usually sensitive to the artistic qualities surrounding her in her developing years, and to the inspiration she gained from contact with theatre artists of the highest calibre in the setting of one of the most beautiful cities in the world."- Margot Fonteyn on Anna Pavlova

Being an Archivists assistant makes you feel like an archaeologist because you dig through old scrapbooks, records, and all sorts of materials from the past. Looking into the past gives you insight into how the world looked through the people's eyes that lived during that time. At times you can feel like a detective piecing together clues to solve a mystery by discovering a name, place, photo, or document that is the missing piece to a puzzle that has never been solved, which is why history is so fascinating to me. It's always a constant discovery, and you never know where it will lead you, which makes it all the more exciting. I think this is why archaeologists are so enthusiastic about their work.  Margot Fonteyn explains her enthusiasm for history and her discovery of old albums that she found that opened up a new world to her on who the ballerina Anna Pavlova was.

"These words were written in 1917. I found them when reading through three albums of pre cuttings that once belonged to Anna Pavlova. These unique albums had come up for sale at Sotheby's as items in the vast ballet collection of my old friend John Carr Doughty, a businessman and balletomane such as Pavlova might have known in her St. Petersburg days. My collaborators, Roberta and John Lazzarini acquired them for the Pavlova Society and the Museum in London of which they are the curators. The Lazzarini's felt the press cuttings should be preserved in a more permanent form, and when they approached me I was immediately filled with enthusiasm."- Quote from Margot Fonteyn on her discovery on the Ballerina Anna Pavlova

Fonteyn talked about her discovery about her favorite ballerina Anna Pavlova and how discovering new details about Pavlova's personality made Pavlova even more fascinating to her.

 "During our work on the book, we experienced a growing revelation of Pavlova's personality. We were fascinated by her lively mind, her profession-alism, her energy, her enduring idealism. At the same time we were saddened by the strange fate on that brought her so few rewards for the incalculable gift of beauty she gave to the world." - Margot Fonteyn on Pavlova's personality

 It was also crucial to Fonteyn that Anna Pavlova's words be preserved for history and that her words would never be altered but would stay true to what Pavlova said word for word, with no exceptions. This historical preservation of Pavlova's words was very important to Fonteyn, and that was what the book did. Pavlova's words are Pavlova's and no one else. I feel it gives you insight into Pavlova's personality and character. You read her words. You understand her and how she was as a person.

"In attempting to illuminate Pavlova's magical personality we have drawn first on her spoken word in  interviews and the written words attributed to her in articles, bearing in mind that the latter have been edited and sometimes translated at least once. For that reason I have selected with great care only those words which ring true to my ear, knowing, as I do, something of what it means to dance year in and year out, trying always to find within oneself that fresh inspiration which alone brings truth and spontaneity to the performance. 

To give depth to our portrait, we have also included observations from the memoirs of Victor Dandre, Theodore Stier and Andre Oliveroff, among others, who worked closely with Pavlova. 

The nature of the material meant that we often had to abridge ruthlessly and sometimes, in the interests of the narrative, sections from different articles have been amalgamated (indicated by an asterisk), but never have we altered the sense of what was said." - Quote from Margot Fonteyn on preserving Anna Pavlova's words.

Margot Fonteyn, who found historical preservation important, hoped that the once home of Anna Pavlova known as the Ivy House would be turned into a museum and a place for young dancers. This cause was so crucial to Fonteyn that the proceeds of the book on Pavlova that Fonteyn was working so passionately and enthusiastically on proceeds were going to a fund called the Pavlova Appeal for the Ivy House to become a museum.

"It is our particular hope that Pavlova's home, Ivy House in London, will one day be restored and preserved as a museum and a centre for activities concerned with young dancers. I am sure there is nothing Pavlova would have wanted more. As a first step, one third of the proceeds from this book will go to a fund devoted to that purpose. It is called the Pavlova Appeal."- Quote from Margot Fonteyn on Preserving the Ivy House.

Impressive enough, Fonteyn and Pavlova did get their wish, maybe not how they imagined, but the Ivy House did get restored and turned into a school. Perhaps not a museum but a place of education, and even more fascinating is ballet is taught at that school to young dancers in the ballet studio. A quote from Anna Pavlova was painted on the studio wall. In this quote, young dancers can find inspiration.

 I believe still having ballet taught at the Ivy House, now a school inspiring young dancers while paying tribute to Pavlova who brought ballet to the world, would make both Margot Fonteyn and Anna Pavlova very happy.

Margot Fonteyn, continuing her brilliant research on ballet history and even conducted her interviews of the great ballet dancers or people who knew the ballet dancers of the past, such as Vaslav Nijinsky's daughter Kyra Nijinsky who also was a dancer on her memories of her father. Now Margot Fonteyn herself an important figure in ballet history.