La Vivandière

The surviving version is usually linked to choreographer Fanny Cerrito and composer Cesare Pugni, and it was first presented in London in 1844. A vivandière was a woman who accompanied and supplied military regiments.

The ballet follows a vivandière and her soldier lover in a military setting, mixing romance with comic and patriotic scenes. Its most famous surviving excerpt is the Pas de Six, reconstructed by Pierre Lacotte.

The commonly performed La Vivandière dates from the 1840s, not 1789. Its military setting can evoke revolutionary-era France, but the ballet itself belongs to the Romantic ballet period.

The Pas de Six preserves choreography associated with Fanny Cerrito and is one of the clearest surviving links to the original ballet. It is often performed separately because the full production is rarely staged.