Spanischer Tanz. (Spanish Dance). Lithograph coloured by hand, mid 19th century

Beneath a pergola with a lake and building in the background, are a group of dancers in stylized Spanish costume. In the centre, a man is lifting a veil from a female dancer who bends forward, eyes downcast; they are surrounded by a girls with tambourines. To the left a man also holds up a veil as though revealing his partner, and to the right is a similar couple. In the background are guitarists. The girls dresses are variations on stage Spanish costume, with fitted bodices, bell-shaped skirts either layered or with flounces of black lace. The girl to the left wears a green dress, with her partner in a dark blue suit trimmed with yellow; one kneeling girl is in yellow and another in blue and the man to the right is in pale blue trimmed yellow. On the ground are posies and flowers.

Given by Dame Marie Rambert

The print is part of the collection of dance prints amassed by Marie Rambert and her husband, Ashley Dukes in the first half of the 20th century. Eventually numbering 145 items, some of which had belonged to the ballerina Anna Pavlova, it was one of the first and most important specialist collections in private hands.
Rambert bought the first print as a wedding present but could not bear to give it away. As the collection grew, it was displayed in the bar of the Mercury Theatre, the headquarters of Ballet Rambert, but in 1968, Rambert gave the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum; seven duplicates were returned to Rambert, but these are catalogued in Ivor Guest's A Gallery of Romantic Ballet, which was published before the collection came to the V&A. Although often referred to as a collection of Romantic Ballet prints, there are also important engravings of 17th and 18th century performers, as well as lithographs from the later 19th century, by which time the great days of the ballet in London and Paris were over.

Spanish dancing became very popular in European opera houses in the 1840s and 1850s. Once native Spanish dancers began to tour Europe, they adopted the 'Spanish' costume worn by ballet dancers when they performed the cachucha or bolero. This followed the bell-shape of the 19th century ballet dress, but were distinguishable as 'Spanish' by the deep lace flounces on the skirt and hair dressed with either mantilla or pulled back into a frilled knot. National dances characteristic of different countries and regions became very popular in the 19th century as audiences became more aware of 'abroad' and exotic far away places.

E.5079-1968