A successful work by Prudent from his mid-thirties, this piece was highly esteemed by musicians of the time and frequently performed in public. Hector Berlioz, to whom this work was dedicated, heard Les Danse des Fées performed with orchestra in Paris in 1853 and stated the following:

His Danse des Fées, which I heard without orchestra in London last year, is one of the most poetic and sweetest things I know. [...] It is a poem and a painting. The orchestration is sweet and gentle, the harmonies have a mysterious sound, the playful melodies are cheerful; everything is there. The piano runs are not empty lines of meaning. They are chains of fairy-like melodies that flow endlessly and sparkle, nothing less than an idea that only the piano can fully express. Prudent's Danse des Fées as a whole is a new and dreamy work introduced to the musical world. It is not often that I have such things to acknowledge. (Quoted from RGM, 1853. 4.10, no.15, Journal des débats)

Generally, Prudent's works do not convey much gravity; they possess an ethereal, floating quality. The 'fairy' motif that appears after a Baroque toccata-like introduction, characterized by the right hand's continuous movement in rapid sixteenth notes, is already seen in No. 6 'Feu follet' (Will-o'-the-Wisp) of his 12 Études de genre. However, in this work, the frequent use of semitones creates an atmosphere that is both charming and mysterious. This work seems to have been frequently performed until the early 20th century, as the Italian composer-pianist Giovanni Sgambati (1841-1914) edited and re-published it for educational purposes.