This piece is a light, witty movement often associated with the operetta style of Jacques Offenbach. It is musically distinct for its clever melodic twists and rapid, sparkling passage work.
Ensure the finger-work remains light and detached to achieve the necessary sparkling character.
Boule de neige is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 5.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 4 — meaning you can already play level 3–4 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Boule de neige lasts about 3 minutes.
Boule de neige is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.