Ondine is often described as Margot Fonteyn's signature ballet. Marie Rambert said of it 'Ondine' was fashioned for Margot. It shows her as she herself: humble, loving, exquisite, enchanting; in short, Margot Fonteyn..

Fonteyn had a particular rapport with the character of the water-sprite. Frederick Ashton said of the development of the ballet ..Ondine had been in my mind for a long time. When I knew that I had to find a big ballet to do for Margot, it was Ondine that came to the fore. The only difficulty was that I had always visualised Ondine as blonde - possibly because of the famous Rackham illustrations. In the event, Margot's darkness seemed to intensify the role to advantage; it became stronger and fuller than it might otherwise have been. Many of Margot's characteristics are in Ondine, but even in my mind the character - in fact all the characters - kept taking charge and developing on their own, often when I least exptected it. It was as if they controlled their own life..