A light salon waltz characteristic of amateur-level piano literature from the turn of the century. It utilizes standard broken-chord accompaniments to support a delicate, fluttering melody.
At Henle 2 this is a beginner-level piece, where steady coordination between the hands is the main hurdle. The main demands: a waltz lilt that needs charm and a flexible left hand; precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; and a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment.
Focus on balancing the melody against a consistent, lighter-touch waltz bass.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Dance of the butterflies is rated Henle level 2 of 9 — beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 2–3. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 2.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 2 — meaning you can already play level 1–2 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 Dance of the butterflies lasts about 3 minutes.
Dance of the butterflies is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Dance of the Midgets by Martin Greenwald, Arroz con leche by Anonymous, 18 German Dances and Ecossaises by Franz Schubert — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.