Manuela Perea ('La Nena') and Felix Garcia dancing the Bolero Caleta. Lithograph, 1850s.

Against a background of buildings, with a church tower centre and trees to the right, stand a male and female dancer. The man stands on the left, his weight on his left leg, his right leg forward, his body part-turned to his left, and the upper body bending over from the waist to his right; his right arm is held out and his left curved above his head; in his hands he holds castanets. He wears a low-crowned, small-brimmed hat trimmed with a band and flowers; his short Spanish-style jacket and waistcoat are decorated with rows of 'bobbles' and there are epaulettes on the shoulders. Around his waist is a cummerbund and his fitted breeches button at the knee; a decorative bobble tassel hangs onto his 'gaiters', which extend into the foot. His partner stands in the same pose, with the weight on her left leg, the foot turned out, and the right pointing forward; her body faces the viewer and she bends over slightly from the waist to her left, with her left arm held out and her right curved above her head; her head is turned to her right, looking over her partner. In her hands are castanets. Her severely dressed hair is decorated with a comb to one side and flowers on the other; around her neck is a double pearl necklace with an elaborate pendant cross; her off-the-shoulder dress has a long-sleeved plain bodice, the neckline trimmed with black lace and small 'bobble' lace sleeves at the upper arm. The bell-shaped, knee-length skirt is in two tiers, each trimmed with a decorative ribbon border, and a line of the same border is around the hips; her ballet slippers have double-crossed ribbons. The top corners of the print area are cut across.

Given by Dame Marie Rambert

Dona Manuela Perera, known as "La Nena," (the baby) because of her diminutive figure, danced in London in the mid 19th century.
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.

Dona Manuela Perera, known as "La Nena," (the baby) because of her diminutive figure, danced in London in the mid 19th century.
Spanish' solos and group dances were incorporated into many ballets in the 1830s and 1840s, using some authentic steps and movements but more ballet than genuine Spanish. Once native Spanish dancers began to tour Europe, they adopted the 'Spanish' costume developed 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. The bobble trims on La Nena's dress are also characteristic.

E.5034-1968