Adeline Plunkett dancing the Manola, in La Favorite (Les Danseuses de l'Opéra, No. 12). Lithograph coloured by hand by Alophe, ca. 1860

The dancer stands on her left leg with foot turned out, her right leg forward with foot pointed; her body is turned slightly to her left, with her arms curved down and her head turned and inclined to her right; in her hands she holds castanets. Her hair is pulled back into a comb with dark red ribbons to the right side of her head. Her off-the shoulder bodice is white with lines of small yellow leaves; over it is a dark red bodice, fastened from waist to bust, and then opening in a deep collared V and fixed to the underbodice on the shoulders; the turn-back is white edged with gold. Under the collar, on the shoulders are dark red epaulettes trimmed with 'gold' braid and tassels; the lower arms of the long sleeves are also trimmed up the sleeve seam with 'gold' tassels. The bell-shaped pleated white skirt is trimmed on the lower half with two rows of black lace held with dark red bows.

Given by Dame Marie Rambert

Adelina Plunkett was a Belgian ballerina, who danced in London and Paris in the 1840s and 1850s. La Manola in the ballet La Favourite was her most famous dance.
The print is No. 12 in the series, Les Danseuses de l'Opera, published ca. 1860. There were 14 in total, all the work of Alophe.
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.

By 1860, photography had become a viable commercial medium, and several of the prints in the series Les Danseuses de l'Opera seem to be copies of photographs. Maybe this was because most photographs were quite small and, of course, sepia toned; translated into lithographs, they could be larger and then hand coloured, making them more suitable for display.

Following the success of Fanny Elssler's cachucha, Spanish dance became extremely popular with theatre audiences and many ballerinas evolved their own solos and pas de deux based around Spanish dance steps; versions of La Manola were danced by Fanny Cerrito and Adelina Plunkett. One critic declared that Plunkett, born in Belgium, and Elssler were 'the most authentic Andalusians' - a comment that was received with incredulity by native Spanish dancers.
In the 19th century ballet, a 'national' costume was an adaptation of a typical ballet dress (low neck, pointed fitted bodice and bell-shaped, knee-length skirt), and add one or two features characteristic of the relevant country. So Spanish = small bolero, hair pulled back into a comb, flounces on the skirt and castanets; Indian = short-sleeved top, fitted to under the bust, long earrings and multicoloured gem necklaces and belts.

E.5038-1968