When the final curtain came down at London's Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on 8 June 2007, it marked the end of an era for the Royal Ballet: Darcey Bussell, Britain's greatest living ballerina, had hung up her pointe shoes forever. Leaving the Company at the very peak of her powers in a live televised farewell performance of Kenneth MacMillan's sombre masterpiece "Song of the Earth", she took her final emotional bows to a rousing standing ovation from a packed house. By choosing to leave The Royal Ballet when she did, Darcey Bussell has ensured that our memories of her will remain as eternally fresh, youthful and beautiful as this extraordinary ballerina herself.Every performance created a uniquely special buzz which Clive Burton, former Dance Editor of Ritz magazine and a Dancing Times contributor, has vividly captured in his commentary and captions in this book. Starting with her early promotion to Principal in 1989 - after leading the Company in The Prince of The Pagodas at the age of just 20 - the stunning photographs (many published for the first time) will provide a lasting source of pleasure and a joyous reminder of one of the world's most exciting dancers. Darcey was a winner of The Evening Standard Ballet Award in 1990 and was made an OBE in 1995 and a CBE in 2006. She was recently voted by Londoners as the 'hottest human being to have ever lived.' Each page a living piece of ballet history, this lavish and lovingly-produced tribute to Darcey Bussell captures forever the many special moments - on and off stage - in the life of this very special dancer.