In 1976, whilst still dreaming of becoming a ballerina, having reached Elementary level at The Bristol School of Dancing, my mother and I went to see Margot Fonteyn dance at the Bristol Hippodrome!
What an experience, and so lucky to see her dance almost for the last time!
At the time she was 56 years old – much older than most ballerinas of today – and she continued to dance for another 4 years, only then retiring at the age of 60. Incredible!
I was in the Bristol Pantomime that ran from Christmas until February, as part of a troupe of children from The Bristol School of Dancing, and due to this we were able to hand in our autograph books for signing.
I still have Margot Fonteyn’s autograph to this day, along with my last pair of ballet shoes that I wore that year.
Such wonderful memories. Below is a cutting from the Bristol Evening Post describing the night. I couldn’t have put it better myself!
P.S. The photo at the top is actually from 1956, not a photo of the actual performance.
