STRICTLY MARGOT’S

Ballet legend Dame Margot Fonteyn would no doubt be delighted to see dance dominating the TV schedules and her modern equivalent, Darcey Bussell, an international star. Like Bussell, Fonteyn spent all her career at the Royal Ballet, much of it as its ‘prima ballerina’.

She was born in Reigate and her half-Irish, half-Brazilian mother put both Margot and her brother into ballet classes at a very early age. After returning from a spell living in China, she began her dancing career in London in earnest and was soon being given major roles. The height of her career came when she formed a now famous dancing partnership during the 1960s with Russian Rudolf Nureyev after he defected to the West. Their extraordinary performances of ballets such as Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake are still available on DVD and popular online today, and the pair remained friends for life.

At this time Fonteyn lived during the weekends at a converted coach house in Berkshire near Maidenhead where she enjoyed entertaining her ballet friends and escaped the pressure of her performances and fans in London.

Amerden Bank includes many reminders of her life there including several paintings and photographs of the dancer.

The property is for sale with Strutt & Parker (01753 891188) for £1.695 million and has five-bedrooms, a large garden, Thames river frontage, four reception rooms, a kitchen diner, conservatory and three bathrooms.