48 Facts About Darcey Bussell

1.

Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, was born on Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969 and is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest Strictly Come Dancing.

2.

Darcey Bussell is widely acclaimed as one of the great British ballerinas.

3.

Darcey Bussell remained with The Royal Ballet for her whole career, more than two decades, but performed as a guest artist with many leading companies including NYCB, La Scala Theatre Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, Hamburg Ballet and the Australian Ballet.

4.

Darcey Bussell is pursuing parallel careers in television, books and modelling, and supports numerous British and international charities and dance institutions.

5.

Darcey Bussell was born in London to Australian businessman John Crittle and his English wife, Andrea Williams.

6.

The family spent some time in Australia, where Darcey Bussell attended school before they returned to London for Darcey Bussell to be educated at Fox Primary School in Kensington.

7.

Darcey Bussell was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of nine.

8.

Darcey Bussell studied "all forms of stagecraft" at the Arts Educational School, before joining the Royal Ballet Lower School, based at White Lodge, Richmond Park, aged 13.

9.

Darcey Bussell made several guest appearances with the New York City Ballet, starting in June 1993, with a performance of the pas de deux from Agon.

10.

Darcey Bussell guested with the Balletto Della Scala, Kirov Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Hamburg Ballet and the Australian Ballet.

11.

Darcey Bussell danced the premiere of Sylvia by Leo Delibes choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 4 November 2004.

12.

Darcey Bussell retired from ballet on 8 June 2007 with a performance of MacMillan's Song of the Earth.

13.

In 2012 Darcey Bussell participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, leading a troupe of 200 ballerinas and 4 male dancers from the Royal Ballet.

14.

In 2016 Darcey Bussell launched a charity called DDMIX aimed at bringing dance into state schools.

15.

Darcey Bussell was announced as the first female Chair of the Board of Trustees of Plymouth Theatre Royal in March 2023.

16.

Darcey Bussell has been photographed for Tatler, Vogue and Vanity Fair.

17.

Darcey Bussell was famously photographed with a diamond in her mouth in a promotion for De Beers.

18.

Darcey Bussell modelled the first ever jewellery collection for the World Gold Council.

19.

Darcey Bussell has modelled for American Express and featured in a TV commercial for Lloyds Bank.

20.

Darcey Bussell had initiated the idea and storyline, and the books were written using a series of ghost writers.

21.

Darcey Bussell co-wrote The Young Dancer with the Royal Ballet School and wrote an introduction to the book The Illustrated Book of Ballet by Barbara Newman, which showcases five of the ballets in which she starred.

22.

An autobiographical picture book of her ballet career, titled Darcey Bussell, was released in 2012.

23.

Darcey Bussell guest starred as herself in the popular BBC1 comedy The Vicar of Dibley in 1998.

24.

In 2004 Darcey Bussell was the subject of a documentary titled Britain's Ballerina.

25.

Darcey Bussell teamed up with Katherine Jenkins to stage a song and dance production titled Viva la Diva, to pay tribute to the stars who inspired them who include Madonna and Judy Garland.

26.

Darcey Bussell joined the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing judging panel as a fifth judge in the final stages of the 2009 series.

27.

In 2012 Darcey Bussell returned to the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel for the 2012 series as a permanent judge and replacement for Alesha Dixon.

28.

On 12 August 2012 Darcey Bussell performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics, descending from the roof of the Olympic stadium as the 'Spirit of the Flame' and leading a troupe of 200 ballerinas.

29.

In December 2013 Bussell presented a BBC Two documentary titled Darcey's Ballet Heroines.

30.

In December 2014 she presented a BBC One documentary on Audrey Hepburn, titled Darcey Bussell: Looking for Audrey.

31.

In May 2015, Darcey Bussell was co-presenter and dance expert for the Grand Final of the inaugural BBC Young Dancer competition, which was aired live on BBC Two.

32.

In December 2015 Bussell presented an hour-long documentary on BBC Two, Darcey's Ballet Heroes, focussing on Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, and other male professionals ballet dancers.

33.

In December 2016, she presented a BBC One documentary on Margot Fonteyn, titled Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot.

34.

In December 2017, she presented a BBC One documentary on Fred Astaire, titled Darcey Bussell: Looking for Fred.

35.

On 10 April 2019 Darcey Bussell announced that she had decided to step down as judge from Strictly Come Dancing.

36.

Darcey Bussell was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1995 New Year Honours for services to ballet, Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 Birthday Honours, and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to dance.

37.

Darcey Bussell staged a dance performance with students from the Royal Ballet School.

38.

In 2006 Bussell became a gold medal recipient from the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

39.

Darcey Bussell is a recipient of the Carl Alan Award for contributions to dance.

40.

On 18 July 2009 Darcey Bussell received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford.

41.

In 2017 Darcey Bussell received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow, Scotland.

42.

In June 2018 Darcey Bussell received an honorary Fellowship from Arts University Bournemouth alongside costume designer Jenny Beavan OBE, graphic designer Margaret Calvert OBE and director and screenwriter Edgar Wright.

43.

Since 2012 Darcey Bussell has been the president of the Royal Academy of Dance She is Artiste Laureate of The Royal Ballet School and is a patron of the International Dance Teachers Association, London's Children's Ballet, Cecchetti UK, Cecchetti Australia, Dance Proms, Company Chameleon, Du Boisson Dance Foundation, National Youth Ballet and New English Ballet Theatre.

44.

Darcey Bussell has been campaign president of the Birmingham Royal Ballet's fund raising campaign since 2012.

45.

Darcey Bussell is an ambassador for the giving programme of the New Zealand School of Dance and is on the board of the Margot Fonteyn Foundation.

46.

Darcey Bussell is the international patron of the Sydney Dance Company.

47.

Darcey Bussell is a patron of the medical charities Borne, Sight for All and the Henry Spink Foundation.

48.

In 1997 Darcey Bussell married Australian businessman Angus Forbes in Cherwell, Oxfordshire.