Germaine Tailleferre and Hlne Perdriat's Le Marchand d'oiseaux (1923): French feminist ballet?

In 1923 Germaine Tailleferre, the only female member of the group of French composers known as Les Six, completed Le Marchand d'oiseaux for the Ballet Sudois, with a scenario, costumes and set designs by the woman artist and poetess Hlne Perdriat. Interestingly, a number of the contemporary critics interpreted the work (mainly the product of two women) as a feminist manifestation. This article examines the justification for labelling Le Marchand d'oiseaux a feminist work, and posits the theory that it may be more apt, especially within the context of the development of inter-war musical modernism, to understand it as a neoclassical ballet.