Margot Fonteyn Dies At 71

Prima ballerina assoluta Dame Margot Fonteyn, who charmed the world with exquisite line, musicality and grace until her retirement in 1979, died in a Panama City, Panama, hospital today, a presidential spokesman said. She was 71.

``She died at 11.30 a.m. after a long illness,'' said Louis Martinz, a longtime friend. ``She died in Panama, where she wanted to die.''

Martinz said Dame Margot had spent most of the last year in hospital in Houston and Panama City. He did not disclose the cause of death.

Funeral services are set for tomorrow in Panama City.

Dame Margot had lived in Panama on and off since the 1950s. She was married to Roberto Arias, a Panamanian politician who died in November 1989.

``It's not death I'm afraid of. It's living too long,'' Dame Margot once said.

The two had lived on a beach-front ranch outside the town of San Carlos in western Panama.

Dame Margot was born Peggy Hookham, to a British diplomat and his wife, May 18, 1919, in England. She was reared in Shanghai and in London, where she studied ballet with George Goncharov and at Sadler's Wells School.

She made her debut in ``Nutcracker'' production of the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1934, and created her first major role in Sir Frederick Ashton's ``Le Baiser de la Fee.'' She danced all the leading classic ballerina roles, becoming top ballerina for the Sadler's Wells and then the Royal Ballet.

In 1959 she took guest-artist status with the Royal. That permitted her to dance with companies around the world. In 1961 her career and name got a major boost when she, in her 40s, teamed up with Rudolf Nureyev. Their dance partnership was considered one of the world's greatest.

The pair danced in Seattle with the Royal Ballet in 1965, and Dame Margot danced here with another touring group in the early 1970s.

Times dance critic Carole Beers contributed to this story.