On Christmas 1912, a beautifully bound copy of James Matthew Barrie's (1860-1937) Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens was presented to Debussy's daughter, Chouchou, by his friend Robert Godet. It contained illustrations by Arthur Rackham, and the idea for this piece was taken from one of them: a drawing of a fairy dancing on a spider's web. In contrast to the quick and light fairy dance, characterized by an arpeggio motif created by contrary motion in both hands (mm. 1-5) and a trill motif in the upper voice (from m. 6 onwards), a free and dynamic dance unfolds in the middle section (mm. 24-59) (see musical example). Finally, the light dance returns, concluding with its lingering resonance.

[Musical Example] Beginning of the dynamic middle section, mm. 24-27