Victoria of the United Kingdom, Spanish dances and Manuela Perea "La Nena"

Abstract

Queen Victoria of Great Britain was a great enthusiast of dance. Classical ballet and Spanish dances were part of her recreational and cultural life. At Her Majesty's and the small Royal Theatre of Haymarket, where the queen regularly attended, the leading French ballerinas who excelled with Spanish steps in the great romantic ballets performed, as well as a Sevillian dancer named Manuela Perea "La Nena." Manuela became the main exponent of Spanish dances since her debut in 1845. The history of Spanish dances in Great Britain is a story of constant evolution, shaped by the stylized and choreographed Spanish dances by the romantic ballet masters and the adaptation of genuine Spanish dances, whether boleros or jaleos, to the taste of the aristocratic audience. The image the queen had formed of the city of Seville through opera and ballet since her childhood was an important factor in the scenic configuration that Spanish dance acquired in Great Britain.