L'Éventail de Jeanne (French for "Jeanne's Fan") is a children's ballet choreographed in 1927 by Alice Bourgat and Yvonne Franck. The work is notable for its collaborative score, composed by ten prominent French composers, each contributing a stylized dance in classic form.
The ten composers and their respective movements are:
- Maurice Ravel – Fanfare
- Pierre-Octave Ferroud – Marche
- Jacques Ibert – Valse
- Alexis Roland-Manuel – Canarie
- Marcel Delannoy – Bourrée
- Albert Roussel – Sarabande
- Darius Milhaud – Polka
- Francis Poulenc – Pastourelle
- Georges Auric – Rondeau
- Florent Schmitt – Finale: Kermesse-Valse
The title "Jeanne" refers to Jeanne Dubost, a Parisian hostess and patroness of the arts who ran a children's ballet school. In the spring of 1927, she presented ten of her composer friends with leaves from her fan, asking each to write a short dance piece for her pupils. The children performed in fairytale costumes, and the set design incorporated mirrors.
The ballet was first performed privately at Jeanne Dubost's Paris salon on 16 June 1927, with Maurice Ravel playing a piano transcription of the music. Its public premiere took place at the Paris Opera on 4 March 1929, with the ten-year-old Tamara Toumanova dancing the lead role. Notably, Darius Milhaud was reportedly so displeased that his debut at the Paris Opera was with such a minor work that he boycotted the performance.
Excerpts from the ballet have been frequently recorded, particularly Ravel's Fanfare and Poulenc's Pastourelle. The first complete recording was made in 1984 by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Simon.
