A night at the ball
Vienna’s Opera Ball is a grand affair – and with tickets that start at 250 euros ($340), and boxes costing as much as 18,500 euros ($25,000), that is just as you would expect.
The traditional ball is opened by the Austrian president and features a musical programme complete with artists from the Vienna Philharmonic and State Ballet, before 144 debutants and debutantes lead into the festivities with a Strauss waltz.
Members of the opening committee dance past a lost shoe during the final rehearsal for the Opera Ball.
They enter the dance floor on the night of the ball.
Visitors watch the opening ceremony of the Opera Ball.
Members of the opening committee hold hands as they enter the dance floor.
Dancers from the state opera ballet perform for the occasion.
Visitors watch the opening ceremony of the ball from a box.
Guests look down at dancers who crowd the floor.
The ball guests dance.
Vienna’s opera house is illuminated as a small crowd stands outside on the evening of the Opera Ball.
