La Révolte au sérail

[Tom47]

I recently came across a ballet named La Révolte au sérail (The revolt at the harem) also known as La Révolte des Femmes (The revolt of the women).  It premiered in Paris at the Académie Royale de Musique-Le Peletier on April 12, 1833, with a libretto by Filippo Tagilioni and music by Théodore Labarre.  Marie Tagloinoi portrayed Zulma apparently the main character of the story.  The ballet is set in Granada and is in three acts, the first is in a room in the Alhambra Palace, the second in the women’s baths and the third in a wild site in the Alpuxares.  According to the Oxford Reference website the ballet is “sometimes viewed as an early feminist ballet, with its heroine Zulma and her fellow harem inmates banding togeter with working women to protest against the tyranny of men.”  Another website describes La Révolte au sérail as “the first female miliary ballet, depicting women  revolting from a harem in Muslim Granada.”  This sounds interesting to me, particularly as a counter story to Le Corsaire.  Does anyone know any more about La Révolte au sérail?  This link goes to seven images of costumes from the ballet: https://nypl.getarchive.net/topics/la+revolte.  One image shows Melle. Taglioni in the role of Zulma with a sword and a helmet.

Tom,