Fonteyn and Nureyev: The Original Marguerite and Armand

Tamara Rojo Shares a Slice of Dance History

The partnership between Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn is legendary in the dance world. Their natural chemistry and unparalleled artistry were the foundation of countless works created for them at The Royal Ballet. In 1963, Sir Frederick Ashton created Marguerite and Armand explicitly for them to dance, in fact, he never intended for other dancers to portray these characters after their final performance in 1977. It wasn’t until 2000 that The Royal Ballet welcomed it back into The Royal Ballet’s active repertoire, where some years later Tamara Rojo took on the role of Marguerite with Sergei Polunin as her Armand.

We sat down with Rojo, to learn more about their partnership and what it means for a dancer to step into a part created on a dance legend.

Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev performing as part of a guest appearance with San Francisco Ballet, 1964 // © Henri McDowell

Tell us about Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in Marguerite and Armand

Tamara Rojo: These roles were first created for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. Fonteyn was in her late forties and Rudy was in his twenties when they first danced together. And their partnership supposedly had been perfect from the beginning.

She was a beautiful dancer with a big career behind her, a lot of experience of the British style. She had been a muse for Ashton for many years. And Rudy really brought this wild energy, amazing technique, hunger to learn, and passion about everything. And somehow her sense of humor and his kind of childish behavior matched very well.

They obviously loved each other. And out of that, many beautiful works and many beautiful performances happened. They came to San Francisco and they got into all kinds of trouble. They ended up at the police station. And I thought, well, they should come back, at least in their alter egos as Marguerite and Armand! Whatever it was that made them such an iconic partnership, they loved each other until the end. It was a true love affair.

What is it like for our dancers stepping into these iconic roles?

Tamara Rojo: To step into roles created by these two enormous names in the ballet world is a challenge. So, casting these ballets is difficult. You have to find dancers that have the technical mastery and the artistic and musical qualities that those two dancers had. That's rare even today, even 50 years later.

But we're very lucky at San Francisco Ballet. We have a few beautiful casts. So, I'm very excited by how the dancers have loved being in the studio, how they embraced it, how they brought everything to every rehearsal. It's been really wonderful to see.