Grand Ballet in four acts
Music by François Benoist, Cesare Pugni & Ludwig Minkus

World Première
15th January 1851
Théâtre National de l’Opéra, Paris
Arthur Saint-Léon

Original 1851 Cast
Pâquerette
Fanny Cerrito

François
Arthur Saint-Léon

Saint Petersburg Première
9th February [O.S. 28th January] 1860
Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre

Première of Petipa’s revival
22nd January [O.S. 10th January] 1882
Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre

Original 1882 Cast
Pâquerette
Eugenia Sokolova

François
Pavel Gerdt

Plot
Set in Brittany, the flower girl Pâquerette is in love with the impoverished Franz. To save his father from debtors’ prison, Franz sells himself to the recruiters and becomes a solider. Pâquerette gets into the barracks in the guise of a vivandière and rescues Franz.