Darcey Andrea Bussell was born in London in April in 1969 and attended the Arts Educational School studying all forms of stage-craft before moving to White Lodge (The Royal Ballet Lower School), aged 13, to concentrate on ballet. She was later educated at The Royal Ballet School, where the late Kenneth MacMillan spotted her exceptional technique. He then championed her early career leading to her become a Principal ballerina at the Royal Ballet by the age of 20. She has danced in major ballets all round the world. Her grace and ability to inject heart-wrenching emotion into her performances has won the affection of the British public making her the top ballerina in the country. She is, in fact, widely considered to be one of the greatest English ballerinas of all time.
After her retirement from professional ballet, Bussell released a series of children's books entitled The Magic Ballerina. She has also co-written The Young Dancer with the Royal Ballet School and written an introduction to the book The Illustrated Book of Ballet by Barbara Newman, which showcases five of the ballets in which she starred.
Author's Comment: I wanted to inspire every little girl who wants to be a dancer, to fire their imagination about the joys of being on the stage. The idea of a magic theatre where all the adventures happen came from [my daughter] Phoebe, who used to come and see me dance when she was small.
