This article has been published in December 1994 issue of
<div align="center"><img src=http://images7.fotki.com/v122/photos/6/6766/26672/tbr-vi.jpg width=500 height=111 alt="The Ballroom Review">
<b><big>A Night of Enchantment: The Viennese Opera Ball</big></b>
<i>By Teddy Kern</i>
</div>
<img src=http://images8.fotki.com/v123/photos/6/6766/26672/vob-vi.jpg width=454 height=307 align=right vspace=2 hspace=2>
The fortieth anniversary of the Viennese Opera Ball, one of the highlights of New Yorks social season, will be held on Friday, January 27th, 1995 in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. I have been the principal choreographer and program coordinator of the Opera Ball since 1979.
This historic charity ball, held annually at the Waldorf Astoria, is in the tradition of the grandest of balls which is held in Vienna, Austria each year at Carnival time. The New York event is for the benefit of the Margit Bokor-Norman Scott Memorial Fund for Cancer Research at the Columbia-Presbyterian Cancer Center. The fund was established in 1956 to celebrate the life of Ms. Bokor, a brilliant opera singer, who died of cancer in the prime of her artistic career. Her name was joined by that of Norman Scott of the Metropolitan Opera in 1968.
The ball itself is opened by a contingent of eight cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point, with a presentation of arms, and American and Austrian colors. This is followed by a Grand March-Processional to introduce members of the Honorary Committee and the diplomatic corps. The honorable Mayor of the City of Austria, their excellences, The Ambassadors to the U.S. and to the U.N., the Honorary Consul General, Archduke Geza and Mrs. Von Habsburg, The Honorary Chairwoman Countess Clemens Reggeguier, and many other dignitaries will participate in the processional. Immediately following the grand march there is a special opening presentation which always includes a performance of Viennese Waltzes. My first association with the Viennese Opera Ball was a principal dancer in the dance corps some seventeen years ago, when my partner, the late Harding Dorn, and I, performed a Viennese Waltz.
At the time, I was on the faculty of the Albert Butler Dance Studio and also at the Julliard School in the American Opera Center. My experience as a theatrical and a ballroom choreographer proved to be an important contribution to the ball, and the following year, I was asked to choreograph the opening and coordinate the evenings entertainment. I have continued in this capacity ever since.
To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the ball in 1995, a unique opening performance is planned, which will include dancers from Vienna under the direction of Sir Michael Hysek. He and I will work together with a corps of select New York ballroom dancers who will join the Austrian troupe to learn a quadrille and a formation Viennese Waltz. Its quite exciting and challenging to be working by telephone with an artist-colleague on another continent, through an interpreter! The common language, of course, is the music. Through the years I have had the pleasure of collaborating with New Yorks finest society orchestras and their maestri, including the Lester Lanin Orchestra, Peter Duchin, Alex Donner, the New York Philharmonic and this year the Emery Davis Orchestra.
In Addition to the opening performance, there will be a casino with gaming tables and roulette, brought from Vienna and operated by Austrian croupiers for the charity. The ball also includes a musical interlude late in the evening, which varies from full scale operetta scenes performed by celebrated New York vocalists, to cabaret style vignettes, which I have staged or choreographed each year. This year, Miss Elizabeth Koler, star of Volksopen Vienna, will perform a program of Viennese music.
One of the most enchanting things about the ball, is how elegantly everyone dresses, (ladies must wear ball gowns and gentlemen white tie, tails and decorations). When I danced in the opening of the ball seventeen years ago, it was the first time I performed in a ball gown and I was an unforgettable experience. In subsequent years, many of New Yorks most celebrated teachers and artists have performed my choreography at the bal. I have enjoyed collaborating with Richard and Bonnie Diaz, Danny Carter, Emily Marshall, Jeff and Donna Shelly, Jerry Paris, Victoria Renaldi, Russ Palin and others.
In order to make each ball unique, Executive Producer Erica Borozan and I begin six months prior to the event to work with the orchestra conductor to select the music. Afterwards the dancers and vocalists are chosen and the creation of choreography and evenings entertainment begins. My knowledge of the techniques of Viennese Waltz has been derived from my association with Josephine Butler, my social dance mentor, and the author of the Encyclopedia of Social Dance, in which the Viennese Waltz is described in rich detail.
This year, for the first time, students from my Viennese Waltz performance class at Dance Manhattan will attend the bal as guests. With my passion for the Viennese Waltz, which I consider the most elegant and beautiful of all social dances, I know that my students will be captivated by this magical experience and I look forward to sharing this evening with them.
***
<i>Ms. Kern is the Dance Director and co-owner of <a href=http://dance-manhattan.com>;Dance Manhattan Studio</a>. She is also the artistic director of the American Swing Dance Championships and co-founder of the American Swing Dance Teachers Guild.</i>
<b>Related Links:</b><ul><li><a href=http://journals.rpungin.fotki.com/dance/entry/sgqksfgtwt/>;Photos and videos from the Viennese Opera Ball 2000</a>
</li><li><a href=http://journals.rpungin.fotki.com/blog/entry/krksqdftq/>;Photos and videos from the Viennese Opera Ball 2005</a>
</li>
</ul>
<div align="center"><img src=http://images7.fotki.com/v122/photos/6/6766/26672/tbr-vi.jpg width=500 height=111 alt="The Ballroom Review">
<b><big>A Night of Enchantment: The Viennese Opera Ball</big></b>
<i>By Teddy Kern</i>
</div>
<img src=http://images8.fotki.com/v123/photos/6/6766/26672/vob-vi.jpg width=454 height=307 align=right vspace=2 hspace=2>
The fortieth anniversary of the Viennese Opera Ball, one of the highlights of New Yorks social season, will be held on Friday, January 27th, 1995 in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. I have been the principal choreographer and program coordinator of the Opera Ball since 1979.
This historic charity ball, held annually at the Waldorf Astoria, is in the tradition of the grandest of balls which is held in Vienna, Austria each year at Carnival time. The New York event is for the benefit of the Margit Bokor-Norman Scott Memorial Fund for Cancer Research at the Columbia-Presbyterian Cancer Center. The fund was established in 1956 to celebrate the life of Ms. Bokor, a brilliant opera singer, who died of cancer in the prime of her artistic career. Her name was joined by that of Norman Scott of the Metropolitan Opera in 1968.
The ball itself is opened by a contingent of eight cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point, with a presentation of arms, and American and Austrian colors. This is followed by a Grand March-Processional to introduce members of the Honorary Committee and the diplomatic corps. The honorable Mayor of the City of Austria, their excellences, The Ambassadors to the U.S. and to the U.N., the Honorary Consul General, Archduke Geza and Mrs. Von Habsburg, The Honorary Chairwoman Countess Clemens Reggeguier, and many other dignitaries will participate in the processional. Immediately following the grand march there is a special opening presentation which always includes a performance of Viennese Waltzes. My first association with the Viennese Opera Ball was a principal dancer in the dance corps some seventeen years ago, when my partner, the late Harding Dorn, and I, performed a Viennese Waltz.
At the time, I was on the faculty of the Albert Butler Dance Studio and also at the Julliard School in the American Opera Center. My experience as a theatrical and a ballroom choreographer proved to be an important contribution to the ball, and the following year, I was asked to choreograph the opening and coordinate the evenings entertainment. I have continued in this capacity ever since.
To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the ball in 1995, a unique opening performance is planned, which will include dancers from Vienna under the direction of Sir Michael Hysek. He and I will work together with a corps of select New York ballroom dancers who will join the Austrian troupe to learn a quadrille and a formation Viennese Waltz. Its quite exciting and challenging to be working by telephone with an artist-colleague on another continent, through an interpreter! The common language, of course, is the music. Through the years I have had the pleasure of collaborating with New Yorks finest society orchestras and their maestri, including the Lester Lanin Orchestra, Peter Duchin, Alex Donner, the New York Philharmonic and this year the Emery Davis Orchestra.
In Addition to the opening performance, there will be a casino with gaming tables and roulette, brought from Vienna and operated by Austrian croupiers for the charity. The ball also includes a musical interlude late in the evening, which varies from full scale operetta scenes performed by celebrated New York vocalists, to cabaret style vignettes, which I have staged or choreographed each year. This year, Miss Elizabeth Koler, star of Volksopen Vienna, will perform a program of Viennese music.
One of the most enchanting things about the ball, is how elegantly everyone dresses, (ladies must wear ball gowns and gentlemen white tie, tails and decorations). When I danced in the opening of the ball seventeen years ago, it was the first time I performed in a ball gown and I was an unforgettable experience. In subsequent years, many of New Yorks most celebrated teachers and artists have performed my choreography at the bal. I have enjoyed collaborating with Richard and Bonnie Diaz, Danny Carter, Emily Marshall, Jeff and Donna Shelly, Jerry Paris, Victoria Renaldi, Russ Palin and others.
In order to make each ball unique, Executive Producer Erica Borozan and I begin six months prior to the event to work with the orchestra conductor to select the music. Afterwards the dancers and vocalists are chosen and the creation of choreography and evenings entertainment begins. My knowledge of the techniques of Viennese Waltz has been derived from my association with Josephine Butler, my social dance mentor, and the author of the Encyclopedia of Social Dance, in which the Viennese Waltz is described in rich detail.
This year, for the first time, students from my Viennese Waltz performance class at Dance Manhattan will attend the bal as guests. With my passion for the Viennese Waltz, which I consider the most elegant and beautiful of all social dances, I know that my students will be captivated by this magical experience and I look forward to sharing this evening with them.
***
<i>Ms. Kern is the Dance Director and co-owner of <a href=http://dance-manhattan.com>;Dance Manhattan Studio</a>. She is also the artistic director of the American Swing Dance Championships and co-founder of the American Swing Dance Teachers Guild.</i>
<b>Related Links:</b><ul><li><a href=http://journals.rpungin.fotki.com/dance/entry/sgqksfgtwt/>;Photos and videos from the Viennese Opera Ball 2000</a>
</li><li><a href=http://journals.rpungin.fotki.com/blog/entry/krksqdftq/>;Photos and videos from the Viennese Opera Ball 2005</a>
</li>
</ul>
