Can you imagine what it would be like to be the only person given permission by the Dame herself to use the name Margot Fonteyn on a ballet school? Ken Ludden knows: he is the Artistic Director of the Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet.
I met Ken through my LinkedIn group Teachers of Classical Ballet where I first learned about his new book My Margot. Prior to our phone conversation last weekend, I read his book and found it fascinating. (If you’re interested, you can read my review of My Margot.) Ken was one of Fonteyn’s closest friends, yet their relationship had to be guarded during her lifetime to keep the press at bay. In his book, Ken tells us the story of that friendship, beginning at 15, when he first met one of the world’s most beloved ballerinas. Now, on to the interview!
How and why did you go about writing this book?
I originally started writing it for my children so it could get passed down in the family. I began by writing down phrases to help jog my memory and kept adding to the list as I remembered things for the next several years. By the time I had around 175 phrases it was 2003, and for health reasons began to feel pressure to start the book. Along with my own diaries and letters I’d received from Margot and BQ (her mother), I pulled together friends and had them read one of my 175 phrases aloud while I proceeded to relate the story that went with it. These sessions were recorded.
