Margot Fonteyn

Dame Margot Fonteyn, born Margaret Evelyn Hookham, was an English ballerina who lived from 1919 to 1991 and spent her entire career dancing with the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company, later known as the Royal Ballet, eventually being appointed prima ballerina assoluta of the company by Queen Elizabeth II. She began ballet lessons at age four and trained in England and China before returning to London at fourteen to join the Vic-Wells Ballet School, succeeding Alicia Markova as the company's prima ballerina in 1935. In 1961, when she was considering retirement, Rudolf Nureyev defected from the Kirov Ballet, and despite a nineteen-year age difference the two began dancing together, immediately becoming an international sensation noted for performances in works such as Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.