Monday night I got the opportunity to be a princess for the night at the Rudolfina Ball at the Imperial Palace. It was an AMAZING experience and something I would highly recommend for anyone in Vienna during ball season. This was such a last minute decision trying to find a dress on the day of the ball but I guess my fairy godmother was there the whole time because I found a dress. It is surprisingly difficult to find a ball dress in Vienna that isn’t 150€! I figured it would be similar to the United States during prom how every store has at least a few dresses, but was wrong!
The ball was the only masquerade ball during the season and definitely added to the experience! I was amazed at how elaborate the masks and gowns were. Imagine prom dresses, but even fancier and more sophisticated! We got our tickets right before and went to dinner. As we entered the ball there was a grand staircase complete with a red carpet. We took some pictures and then went to see the introduction dancing. You can see a video ( not great but you get the idea below) of the girls in white dresses and their guys dancing to open the night.
After the introduction everyone was invited onto the dance floor so I asked the guy next to me and off we went. Turns out he was a very good dancer while I am awful haha. I don’t think he spoke English either. Since this is a masquerade ball, girls ask guys until midnight and from my understanding the guys have to say yes ( they are stuck with me then😜) I danced with a few others and was even getting better, although I wish I would have taken a dance lesson or two before the ball so I wouldn’t have been as clueless! At one point I even said “Entschuldigung” (excuse me) to another couple we ran into and the guy thought I spoke German! Guess I am starting to sound like a local haha even though that is one of 10 words I know in German!
After dancing, my roommates and other girls from WU walked around to see the other rooms of the palace. How the balls are designed are to have several rooms, all with different kinds of music. At the Rudolfina ball, their was the traditional dancing room, pop music room with a saxophone player, and another smaller room with slow dancing but mostly older couples. In the pop music room I was surprised to hear them play the YMCA, dance the night away, I got a feeling, blurred lines and other popular american music ( from a few years ago). This has just confirmed how I hear american music everywhere, but it is always popular songs from at least 3 years ago! The pop music room was my favorite because of the disco ball, lights, and chandeliers (about 26 total)! Look at the pictures!
At midnight was a special line dance that coordinated with taking our masks off..gasp. It was quite crowded in the room, so everyone was tight. It was a challenged because basically the lady at the front tells you the instructions for the dance such as switch with the person across from you, step forward, bow, etc the only problem was all of this was done in German! The guy and other couple I danced with were super nice about translating and being patient because I was so lost but it was quite fun! I took a video of the same dance at 2 since I let my friend dance this one. My favorite was probably at the end when she kept saying “hop” and the entire ballroom hopped to the front of the room and then the back! Again chaos with so many people but really fun!
We danced the rest of the night and morning trading off between the pop music room and the classical room! It was an amazing experience and I am glad I got to be a princess for the night! This is also the first item checked off of my study abroad bucket list! Enjoy the pictures!
❤️Melanie
P.s so I guess I can’t upload videos on here so I will look into that and see what I can do 😋
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Smiles from Miles Away 