Le papillon (ballet)

Le papillon (The Butterfly) is a 'fantastic ballet' in two acts (four scenes) of 1860, with choreography by Marie Taglioni and music by Jacques Offenbach to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.

[1] The principal dancers were Emma Livry (Farfalla/the Butterfly), Louis Mérante (Prince Djalma), Louise Marquet (Fairy Hamza), and Mme.

[4] The Valse des rayons also became an Apache Dance at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, and was used in the musical Showboat in 1927 as part of the Trocadero scene.

[2] The choreographer Marius Petipa created his own version of Le Papillon with a new score by Ludwig Minkus for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Having decided against making his own version of the full ballet, Frederick Ashton selected pieces from the score for a pas de deux entitled Scène dansante, first performed by Merle Park and David Wall in Aldeburgh in 1975 and then at a charity gala at the Adelphi Theatre London in 1977.

[2] Ronald Hynd prepared a production for Houston Ballet with his own adapted scenario and the score re-orchestrated by John Lanchbery, which premiered on 8 February 1979 and was also danced by the Johannesburg company PACT.

[5] Described as Hynd's tribute to Emma Livry, the plot was pared down and reset in Persia with many of the transformations and comic situations retained.

After the Prince and his entourage have left Hamza's castle they reach a forest clearing, where shortly the butterflies fly in.

Act 2 opens at the palace of the emir Ismaël, where the happy Djalma and Farfalla arrive in a golden carriage.

The last tableau, in grandiose gardens, has Djalma awakening, and he finds himself surrounded by a swarm of butterflies, including his beloved Farfalla.

Farfalla is attracted by the glow of the torch, but in touching the lamp she burns her wings and the charm fades: she regains her human form and collapses into the arms of the prince.