At forty, Dame Margot Fonteyn is seen as past her prime as a leading ballerina, and Ninette de Valois is cutting back her roles at the Royal Ballet. Then, the dynamic young Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who recently defected to the West, enters her life and rekindles her career, both professionally and personally. Frederick Ashton crafts a new ballet for them, and they become the celebrated duo of the ballet world. However, Margot is married to Roberto ‘Tito’ Arias, a Panamanian politician with a questionable reputation, who is unsupportive of her career and likely unfaithful. After he is shot and left paralyzed, Margot must continue dancing into her sixties to afford his expensive medical care, though she still occasionally performs with Rudolf.