GUERNSEY, UK – Two costumes worn by the great ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn are being offered by PFC Auctions. Bidding on the two items, each estimated at £5,000, will close on Wednesday, May 7.

The most important item is Fonteyn’s Swan Lake bodice designed by Carl Toms. The pale soft net bodice, decorated with costume jewelry, has a handwritten label the reads, “FONTEYN Prologue.”

The beautifully crafted bodice was worn by the ballerina in her unforgettable 1963 performance of Swan Lake.

Also offered is a Romeo and Juliet skirt designed by Nicholas Georgiadis of white silk organza decorated with fine gold thread and decoration.

The fine and delicate skirt worn by Fonteyn in 1965’s Romeo and Juliet recalls her stunning partnership with Rudolf Nureyev, in what is regarded as the greatest ballet duo of all-time.

Nureyev and Fonteyn are rumoured to have been lovers off-stage. The electricity between the pair kept audiences enraptured, despite Fonteyn being 20 years older than Nureyev. She had been performing Swan Lake since 1938, the year he was born.

Both costumes originate from the personal collection of Hetty Baynes-Russell – former ballet dancer, actress and wife of the late British film director Ken Russell.

“Margot Fonteyn was the stuff of legend, both in her ballet career and personal life. These rare costumes are a fantastic reminder of her career,” said Paul Fraser, founder of PFC Auctions.

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