The ballet “La Laitière Suisse” (“The Swiss Milkmaid”), a failed performance with a 150-year history: from Gaetano Gioja to Pierre Lacotte

The purpose of this research is to reveal the role of the ballet “La Laitière Suisse” (“The Swiss Milkmaid”) in the history of global choreography. This ballet has been performed by a variety of choreographers over the course of a century and a half, including Filippo Taglioni, Antoine Titus, Jean Petipa, and Pierre Lacotte. The article explores the history of the ballet’s productions, highlighting the artistic features of the ballet and the reception of “La Laitière Suisse” by its contemporaries. The article also examines the dual nature of the ballet’s characteristics, ranging from praise to complete rejection. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time in ballet studies, the history of the ballet “La Laitière Suisse” has been examined, its structural features have been identified, and the production’s artistic links with the traditions of academic classical ballet of the second half of the 19th century have been established. The study found that the ballet “La Laitière Suisse”, despite the mixed opinions of its contemporaries, played a significant role in the history of romantic ballet.