Inside the glamorous Vienna Opera Ball
Overview of the Vienna Opera Ball, which is held at the Vienna State Opera.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
-
Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)An exhibit on Aretha Franklin's career and Janis Joplin's Porsche 356C were among the offerings at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 2011.
-
Winsor McCay/Box Office Attraction Co.McCay's “Gertie the Dinosaur” was the first character ever created specifically for animated film.Media Editor: Lee Goldstein
-
© World Science Festival (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Alan Alda discussing the work of Marie Curie, the subject of his 2011 play Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.The area of Europe compared with other continents
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Overview of the start of World War I, including details of the June 28, 1914, assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzVienna withstood several sieges by the Ottomans, most notably in 1683.
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzOverview of Viennese cafés.
Transcript
NARRATOR: Year in, year out the Vienna Opera Ball is the highlight of the city's carnival season. The Vienna State Opera is the backdrop for this incredible event and on the day, every square inch of the opera house becomes a dance floor. Every year, a new set of debutantes officially open the ball. Roughly 180 dancing couples make up what's known as the ladies and gentlemen's dance society. Getting in, however, is tough.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: "Okay, we start by raising the arm. Here we go."
NARRATOR: Some debutantes come from Vienna's wealthiest families, while others are some of the world's best up-and-coming dancers. Even so, pleasing the master of ceremonies is no easy task.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: "You forgot to smile, ladies and gentlemen. That was awful."
NARRATOR: The rehearsals are quite remarkable, so too are the guests.
EVA DINTSIS: "The first tier is normally filled with politicians. The chancellor sits here, as do representatives of banks. This is where the president sits. The ball also attracts many business tycoons. If they're used to sitting in the first tier or down here, we allocate them the same place next year."
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: "Keep down, keep down. And now slowly up again."
NARRATOR: The debutantes here have come from around the globe to be here.
ESTHER ANN NICHOLS: "My name is Esther Nichols. I'm 20 years old. I'm from Hong Kong but I go to University in America. I've always wanted to try something, you know, different with a new culture and my parents love it here. So they wanted to come along and all my family is here this week so I'm really excited to be a part of something so big and important in Vienna. It's really nice."
NARRATOR: On the evening of the ball, Vienna is truly a sight to behold. The city on the Danube becomes a battleground, as stars and starlets crowd onto the red carpet. Tonight is about seeing and being seen.
WERNER SCHNEYDER: "For most people, whether the evening is a success or not is decided on these very steps. If you make it up the stairs without having attracted the cameramen's and photographers' attention, then you're done for."
NARRATOR: At 9:45 p.m. on the dot, the debutantes fill the floor and the Vienna Opera Ball is underway. But being here doesn't come cheap. The most affordable tickets cost more than €200, while the most expensive go for up to €20,000. Having said that, it's as popular today as it ever was. And it's a big money maker for the Austrian capital too. In fact, the Opera Ball is so successful that the concept has been exported as far afield as New York, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. It seems that the Vienna Opera Ball is here to stay.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: "Okay, we start by raising the arm. Here we go."
NARRATOR: Some debutantes come from Vienna's wealthiest families, while others are some of the world's best up-and-coming dancers. Even so, pleasing the master of ceremonies is no easy task.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: "You forgot to smile, ladies and gentlemen. That was awful."
NARRATOR: The rehearsals are quite remarkable, so too are the guests.
EVA DINTSIS: "The first tier is normally filled with politicians. The chancellor sits here, as do representatives of banks. This is where the president sits. The ball also attracts many business tycoons. If they're used to sitting in the first tier or down here, we allocate them the same place next year."
MASTER OF CEREMONIES: "Keep down, keep down. And now slowly up again."
NARRATOR: The debutantes here have come from around the globe to be here.
ESTHER ANN NICHOLS: "My name is Esther Nichols. I'm 20 years old. I'm from Hong Kong but I go to University in America. I've always wanted to try something, you know, different with a new culture and my parents love it here. So they wanted to come along and all my family is here this week so I'm really excited to be a part of something so big and important in Vienna. It's really nice."
NARRATOR: On the evening of the ball, Vienna is truly a sight to behold. The city on the Danube becomes a battleground, as stars and starlets crowd onto the red carpet. Tonight is about seeing and being seen.
WERNER SCHNEYDER: "For most people, whether the evening is a success or not is decided on these very steps. If you make it up the stairs without having attracted the cameramen's and photographers' attention, then you're done for."
NARRATOR: At 9:45 p.m. on the dot, the debutantes fill the floor and the Vienna Opera Ball is underway. But being here doesn't come cheap. The most affordable tickets cost more than €200, while the most expensive go for up to €20,000. Having said that, it's as popular today as it ever was. And it's a big money maker for the Austrian capital too. In fact, the Opera Ball is so successful that the concept has been exported as far afield as New York, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. It seems that the Vienna Opera Ball is here to stay.