Darcey Bussell
Darcey Bussell began ballet seriously only at the age of 13 when she moved to White Lodge at the Royal Ballet School. She appeared in minor productions at Covent Garden, before joining Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet in 1987. While she was still at school, the late Kenneth MacMillan noticed her exceptional technique, and in 1988 he gave her the leading role in his ballet The Prince And The Pagodas, causing her to move to The Royal Ballet. A year later in December 1989, on the opening night of the show she was promoted to Principal, at the time, the youngest ballerina to be given this honour.
Darcey has featured in television commercials for American Express and Lloyds TSB, and has been photographed by leading photographers such as Mario Testino, Lord Lichfield, Lord Snowdon, Patrick de Matineau and Jon Swanell amongst others. A full-length portrait of her by the artist Allen Jones RA, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, was unveiled on 23rd May 1994.
Darcey has been awarded numerous awards and was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1995 Honours List and subsequently a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2006 Birthday Honours List.
Darcey retired from the Royal Ballet Ballet on 8th June 2007, where she received phenomenal accolades in the UK media and from an adoring British public. Since then, she has teamed up with leading crossover soprano Katherine Jenkins, to star in their own musical called Viva La Diva. The show, which is sold out, opens in Manchester on November 25th.
More recently Darcey has co-authored the very successful Magic Ballerina books, which have sold over 1 million copies around the world.
If you want to an autograph from Darcey then please write to her c/o TCB Group at the postal address.
* You should include a self-addressed envelope with the correct postage attached.
* Please note that we cannot deal with any requests or materials sent via email.