Drawing

The Polka was introduced to London in April 1844 by Jules Perrot and Carlotta Grisi and created an immediate sensation. A month later, Cerrito and St Leon, cashing in on public interest, introduced 'the Redowa, or Original Polka of Hungary' into the ballet La Vivandère. Cerrito and Saint-Léon used the dance as an expression of various moods, he affecting disinterested awkwardness and she a coquettish playfulness, teasing each other in and out of temper 'during a pretty sort of stamping movement'. The drawing shows the characteristic move of the Redowa, where the couple danced the back to back to a waltz rhythm.