S1 Ep12 - The History of Christmas, Queen Alexandra & Margot Fonteyne

The Hidden Herstory Podcast

Chrissy chats with Canadian Historian, Ballet Dancer and Blogger, Jessica Storoschuk from Winnipeg, Manitoba, in this extra special Christmas Episode. In the first part of the show, we talk about our own personal family Christmas traditions, and go on to discuss some of the fascinating Religious, Royal and pre-Christian history that has also become the foundation of the contemporary Christmas celebrations we know and love today - and we also discuss the book "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

In the second half of the show, Jessica tells us about two amazing women who both have connections with Christmas:

Queen Alexandra was Queen Victoria's daughter-in-law. This shy, deaf, highly dignified Queen, who was married to the notorious womanizer, King Edward, took up photography as a hobby and published a book of her photographs, featuring various members of the Royal families of Europe relaxing on holiday, in order to raise money for her chosen charities at Christmas. The book was a bestseller all over the world, and Queen Alexandra's story is a truly fascinating one, which we shall be exploring further on the blog at hiddenherstory.com.

Jessica also tells us about the life and career of British Ballet Dancer, Margot Fonteyn, who was one of the most influential and highly respected ballet dancers of the 20th century. One of her most famous roles was in the traditional Christmas Ballet "The Nutcracker". Margot Fonteyn married a South American Politician in the 1950's and went on to act as a cultural ambassador for the UK. Despite suffering many personal difficulties in her private life, and spending a great deal of her time and money caring for her husband after he was paralyzed in a failed assassination attempt, she always remained 100% focused in her dancing career, working with such greats as Robert Helpmann, Frank Ashton, and Rudolf Nureyev. She was still dancing professionally, well inther 60's, in order to finance her husband's complex medical needs, but she sadly died penniless in Panama, South America and is buried in an unmarked grave. Find out more about the legendary, Margot Fonteyn as Historian, Jessica tells us her extraordinary story.

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