Reviving a tradition, Lviv hosts its first annual Viennese ball

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

LVIV - Amidst extravagant white gowns, wine glasses and the melodies of Johann Strauss, Lviv hosted its first annual Viennese ball on the evening of October 29.

About 530 Ukrainians, Poles and Austrians joined the festivities, many of them dancing well past midnight. Among them were 24 pairs of debutantes from the Lviv region who spent a month immersing themselves in the waltz, polonaise and tango.

Though nowhere near the scale of the balls that are still the tradition in Vienna, it was a promising start. A tradition may have been established in Lviv, much to the satisfaction of Austrian Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Miess.

"Usually, embassies don't do this, but this type of event involves a high element of good will and promotion of bilateral relations," Dr. Miess said.

Lviv college students played the key role in organizing the ball.

Among the goals was to introduce a new level of culture to a city that had any trace of aristocracy and elite traditions destroyed by Soviet Communism, said Ihor Hubilit, the president of Pidkova, a non-governmental organization that promotes democratic society in Ukraine.

The last time Lviv held a Viennese ball was in 1938, just before the onset of World War II, said Yaroslav Nakonechnyi, the Austrian consul to western Ukraine.

Mr. Hubilit, 25, and Ivan Franko National University student Yevhen Rout, 21, spent six months organizing the event. They rented Lviv's Maria Zankovetska Theater of Drama, just a block away from the centrally located Ivan Franko Opera Theater.

Like many of Lviv's cultural institutions, the theater needs renovation, particularly its splintered wood floors and torn velvet seat covers.

Mr. Nakonechnyi was also a key organizer, publicizing the ball and inviting guests from throughout Ukraine and abroad, according to Mr. Hubilit.

Guests began arriving before the 7 p.m. start in vehicles ranging from taxi cabs to Skodas to Mercedes.

Underneath the theater's six-column portico facade, 25 cadets greeted guests at the theater's entrance with a salute to their caps.

Dressed in brisk white uniforms, they represented the Heroes of Kruty Lviv State Lyceum, which enrolls 450 men who graduate into Ukraine's military academies and institutes.

Tickets for the ball were $50 each, and it was primarily Lviv's middle class of doctors, lawyers and professionals who attended, rather than any wealthy businessmen or cultural elites.

Most women wore elegant ballroom dresses with old-fashioned, full-length skirts. Their male counterparts were not as fortunate in their wardrobe search. Lviv doesn't have any business renting or selling tuxedos, Mr. Hubilit explained.

So a handful of men arrived to the ball in their pre-owned tuxedos, while most others were dressed in black suits and bow ties.

Attendees spent an hour chatting and sipping wine or champagne before attending the hourlong concert performed by the Leopolis Chamber Symphony Orchestra as directed by Wojtek Mrozek, a Pole. The symphony performed Johann Strauss' operetta "Die Fledermaus."

Soloists from the Franko Opera Theater included Svitlana Mamchur, Natalia Romaniuk and Roman Trokhymuk.

The event's biggest sponsor was Khrystyna BMW of Lviv. General manager Volodymyr Pavliv told the audience that his company had waited to sponsor such an event ever since its founding in 1991.

"We wanted to do something for Lviv, and today we became participants and sponsors," he said.

In addressing the audience, Dr. Miess pointed out that the ball was taking place just days after his nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of Austrian National Day.

It was declared October 26, 1955, when Austria gained full independence from post-war occupation once the last foreign troops left their territory.

"It's very nice that this Austrian tradition is gaining popularity in Ukraine," Dr. Miess said. Just a week earlier, Dr. Miess had been present at the first Viennese Opera Ball held in Kyiv.

Practicing his Ukrainian, Dr. Miess said, "Bazhayu harnoyi nochi u Lvovi i tantsuvaty waltz na pravo i na livo."

After the symphony concert, attendees moved to the second floor, where a dance floor was set in the hall outside the theater's balcony doors.

The debutantes emerged for the first dance, the Viennese waltz "Am der Schnen Blauen Danau" (On the Beautiful, Blue Danube), with 24 men leading their partners attired in flowing white gowns.

Throughout the night revelers danced the polonaise, the Latin tango, the English waltz, the French gavotte, the Greek syrtaki. (Sorry, no Ukrainian hopak.)

As this was the first such ball in 67 years in Lviv, a sizable yet limited number of ballroom-dance aficionadas graced the floors.

Instead, pairs in their early 20s either impressively demonstrated the basic skills they had learned or winged those dances that weren't in their repertoire.

Awkward teens occasionally stepped on the toes of their attractive Lvivianka partners as they mustered their best facsimile of a waltz.

And there were those debutantes who braved and defied all barriers.

"It's never too late in life!," said Oleksander Romaniuk, a 46-year-old debutant and scientist. "I heard about the ball on the radio, and I said I really wanted to take part."

The debutantes, and debutants, practiced two hours a week for four weeks, said Oleksandra Laptieva, the three-time Ukrainian ballroom dancing champion who trained them at Lviv's Rondo Sports-Dance Club.

"Women learn more quickly," said Ms. Laptieva, a Lviv native. "The older men were more determined, while the younger men were a bit careless." Many of her students were nervous, so she did her best to encourage them and sharpen their skills.

Most of all, "I told them today is a holiday," she said. "It's not work!"

Celebrities were notably absent from the ball, unlike its Kyiv counterpart one week ago, which was attended by Ukrainian elites and sports stars.

The majority attending were Lviv residents; in addition to the predominant Ukrainian, smatterings of Polish and Russian were heard.

More than 40 Austrians were in attendance as well, Mr. Rout said.

Alexander Mantz, 37, said he was impressed with the Lviv ball, despite its smaller scale compared to balls he attended in Vienna. In fact, he said he preferred the quainter atmosphere.

"It's smaller, but the same glamour and motivation are here," he said. "There's lots of beauty and [elegant] dress."

Austrian Robert Hanzl, 32, was on his first visit to Lviv and referred to the city as "a small Vienna." It's only after the Orange Revolution that Austrians have become aware of Ukraine and the fact that Lviv was once part of Austria, he said.

Just as in Lviv, balls have become more popular among the younger generation in Vienna as he said. "First they go to the cocktail bars, then to the balls, and then afterwards to the dance clubs," Mr. Hanzl said. "Young people want to learn traditional dance. It's like military service - it's a must! And it must become tradition here!"

The Lviv ball's budget was one-fifth that of the Kyiv ball, Mr. Hubilit said.

With their corporate sponsors already interested, organizers said plans are under way for another ball, as soon as the spring or summer.

Any funds left after covering the ball's expenses went towards buying Braille textbooks for Lviv's blind children, organizers said.

Despite the attempt at high culture, the luxurious ball couldn't erase the post-Soviet cultural nuances that most Westerners abhor. This included bumping into people without saying "Excuse me," as well as rubbing up against strangers without any respect for personal space.

And no affair in today's Ukraine would be complete without women in their 30s and 40s offering a tad too much cleavage for viewing.

In promoting good will and bilateral relations, the tall and portly Ambassador Miess certainly did his part, dancing with a dozen or so women well into the night.

"He wanted to dance more, but we agreed to end it at 2 a.m.," Mr. Hubilit said.

Oh, and about those tuxedos - Mr. Rout has assured next year's guests that Lviv will have a place to get them.

"We'll buy tuxedos for next year and rent them out ourselves," Mr. Rout said. "There's no shortage of business opportunity in that area."

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 13, 2005, No. 46, Vol. LXXIII

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