Margot Fonteyn: Autobiography

About this Item: Knopf, New York, 1976. Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. SIGNED book is AS NEW in a very fine priced (12.50) dust jacket. Internally unmarked, except for the authors signature on the title page, and unopened. This is a wonderful collectible for any serious library. Her book is herself. it is, of course, about dancing. About loving to dance as a small child in Shanghai. About ballet classes and ballet teachers, about practice and rehearsal. About making her debut as a Snowflake, at fifteen with the emerging Sadler's Wells Company, under the demanding rule of the brilliant and volatile Ninette de Valois. About her almost magical early success dancing Giselle at seventeen, and Swan Lake at eighteen and at nineteen dancing Sleeping Beauty and the effects on a young girl of sudden stardom. About the hard work of overcoming her limitations and her weaknesses. Above all, her autobiography is a revelation of a direct, warm hearted person who believes that artists must take their art altogether seriously and themselves seriously not at all; who finds her own fame difficult to grasp; who is worthy of what her audiences feel for her. Fonteyn is not only admired but loved. Her book in its decency, its generosity, its sense of fun makes clear why. Book is generously illustrated with dozens of photography depicting the authors life on and off stage. Signed by Author