expression on the touch his face prepared either for despair or rapture suddenly brightened into a happy grateful childlike smile. i have long been waiting for you that frightened happy girl seemed to say by the smile that replaced the threatened tears as she raised her hand to prince under a shoulder. they were the second couple to enter the circle prince andre was one of the best dancers of his day and the tasha dump sticks was it. it's the highlights of the russian bull season i'm always been invited to my first look to attend an event which they've promised me is going to be the height of sophistication and delegates and it's the eighteen twelfth anniversary both.

for over a thousand years the russians have known that a good party needs don't sink down the centuries rich and poor alike have learned best steps put on their costumes and set off to find love patronage or simply a good time. in this suitably graham building almost two hundred people have gathered to perform the classics from the polonaise to the polka all in front of a live orchestra. you can't help but notice the effort that's gone into their appearance and although i wasn't the only one in my dress i did feel a little out of place. though i may not have three much in the way of nineteenth century playthings but i

do know one lady there that they have to get the right look for a period. so we've got lots of beautiful costumes here. of course this fall here was first dedicated to the war of eighteen twelve it wasn't so much about russians they draped but it was the first such event was held after the war a certain degree of courage was required to hold the ball at that time this stance is where it all began. and with several events every year they're becoming very popular even if you're not experienced you are encouraged to join in and there are plenty of helpful partners waiting to show you the ropes. movement in music have always stood the russian soul but now in the twenty first century more and more people seem to be learning these

traditional courtly dances that hop back to a bygone age i wanted to find out what makes them so appealing to a modern nor dns and how long it might take to get an absolute beginner to the book but. there's a school in moscow which claims it can teach anybody how to dance so i am going to put that theory to the test and apparently there are always sorts of men so hopefully this should be a place for. the rich or good evening everyone today will learn the viennese waltz which you can dance at the ball roll. up it was time to start learning the basics twiddling round by myself everything seemed pretty easy but a solo waltz wasn't exactly going to cut it take the ladies right hand good teacher

. the gentleman's right hand sits in the lady's left shoulder blade a little closer. the time. capsule. the. the as i fought the urge to stare at my feet and count out loud we made a few circuits of the room with only minimal damage to obvious toads. the idea is to be. good enough to actually not look like a total idiot to the board. but. there you go just like her that u.k. yeah fine. sorry that's not is how to get a traffic jam out of. our instructor demon has been teaching for the best part of twenty years and says he's never seen dancing more popular. though she wasn't at the hospital it is important because whenever you go to any public place like

a restaurant there's always room for dancing beaches the so you get a feeling of confidence when you know that you can invite a lady to the dance floor. raise your hand. get the response you know i think that the first true taste for dancing only comes after three months of practice. and. unfortunately for me i didn't have quite bad blome if i was going to make it to another daunts i was going to need some serious help do you have a question there's a pool coming up and i really need a partner. would you come with. a pink or wonderful. but sect myself a great of a heart but clearly i'm just going to have to get myself properly prepared all culture isn't just about dancing and i was going to have to brush up on my fashion and my etiquette.

most here we see the most authentic russian romanticism of this is a picnic dress it's accentuated to like shawl and hat only single women were allowed to have uncovered heads but it was pushed they had highly decorated hairstyles married women whether at the ball or at home were required to wear a hat they danced in the stress of balls but it would be worn only at a local summer gatherings so some school if we look at the male costume we see the dress code was colorful and return to the fashion scene in color courses the shirts of most of most. james this is the costume from the middle of the nineteenth century. that's the sort of thing up in the form of by this time they are wearing black coats and black trousers in comparison with very elaborate gowns for the ladies' men look like exclamation points bringing

attention to female beauty. and want to remind you that you could make a costume like that for me the core question of course brilliant or. excuse me for a moment well this. is how the first story. accordions both on the one hand the bulwarks is the most democratic place. most of all you can invite anyone you like your boy dom so just but if you want to invite a lady who is standing next to a gentleman you should ask his permission first. yet the ballroom is also a very patriarchal place in the past in russia were forbidden but there is one

exception if someone stood on your partner's dress up like that you were obliged to challenge him to do it only in that instance did the emperor permitted just. the cooperation women were able to communicate with fans man knew what was being directed at them was was this the final why right arm to the heart without little means i love you. other movements had other meanings this one means i have no interest in when a lady does this it means she likes. you when the lady flaps her family like this that's your signal to invite her to dance and then.

stand facing one another the gentleman takes a step to the right. that is gentleman embrace your partner. already. involved but in the off the. us us. the. excellent. iraq you have wonderful shoes. playing in the back there put me on that. rusty riposte or. we are ok just try it in front of prince and back and back story yeah in the front yeah but in a couple. it wasn't perfect but it was as good as it was going to get and the next day i headed to

a room is to pick up my costume. you know what company are you we have a dress from the middle of the nineteenth century but that you have this hoop skirt is made of silk taffeta there's about nine leaders here at that time flowers were very fashionable just because now i'll show you my pride and joy this is a carnival gown from the sixteenth century. from the old city it's all sewn by hand . all silk and silk and bordered fabric such a beauty. the bowler and the ball all of this beauty was exempted by the seriousness rigor and restraint in male attire. that's the kind of out that we've got for you. so this is going to make me hopefully a fresh little gent of the scene fifty's now just to see if everything fits but it

seems the trend of the day was for very small clothing. of those not the best needs to be tight even in paintings you'll see that the male figure i mean it's the females. and waist and the small children to be kids again ladies for most of the weekend. but the cakes james well for the next week. like that. there we go finally feel authentic james the dandy you soul go to the ball. sure and. the women of the time spent about six hours in hair to question the head dress a has to have a high level of professionalism in order to make such

a hairstyle unless they used ations greek statues as models. style uses lots of logs and curls concentrating these hairpiece holds these hair out of fashion we have spirals at the temples we scout it's a very romantic style and very playful. especially in dance when a girl dances and flips her curls it's amazing. and. it's super wonderful thank you but you know you're ready for the ball and. we were john seeing in the more of your apostle museum a building that's over two hundred years old and that's recently undergone

a long restoration by descendants of its former owners and amazingly everything seemed to go off without a hitch. so it's like a little break ok now that we finally got the walls out of the way without too many casualties the what's made you stick with it what you think you've got out here it's that feeling down during the meeting new people you're done in these ads. dear music everything together all together is like a drunken day you get used to it you get addicted to her i would like to get the basics of. the house used to play host to the aristocracy of the intelligentsia i mean set me truth i'm in such all centered surroundings and among beautifully

dressed people it's easy to lose yourself. and it's possible i may have got slightly carried away. suck. i don't moan satisfaction. i begin. the.

story of. the war. in. iraq. why don't come alex thomas prime minister. or. why. coming up.

admission free accreditation three times for charges free. range month free risk free. q. types free. download free broadcast quality video for your media projects and free media don darty dot com. paula has been satisfied and as i wrote back towards the twenty first century it was finally time to read a message i've been passed up the dots. james i'd like to invite you to join me at the first russian viennese ball in montrose switzerland it should be a memorable event if you'd like to attend please join me at the imperial tailoring

company in moscow next monday at noon you'll need to pick out something elegant hope to see you there victor. there was no way i could pass up a chance like this viennese ball is renowned as the best event of the season and i knew the fixer was one of the men in charge. now it might be a traditional bowl but i don't think the eight hundred fifty look is going to cut it in switzerland so i'm here to meet up with victor and hopefully pick up something a little bit more. picture hi james stuff this is yeah well now when. she was a stooge for you i've already chosen the one for me this one please ok. certainly had good taste it brought me to moscow's imperial tailoring company where

they make some of the best clothes in the business. right to. be doing well well james in general you look really very good at i think fits you perfectly but and maybe some small items for example your drawers of the longer right thing and maybe a bad fake some more buttons all this was just you know but in general it's perfect and of course there's always a place or something we could always do best k. right so of course i work ok. q. james this is your theory you look really perfect thank you very much well i don't think that daniel craig has anything to worry about but you can't help but feel a bit special it's something like this so switzerland because we're coming to get.

a few days in around two and a half thousand kilometers later i'd arrived in the small swiss municipality of montrose and it certainly didn't disappoint. the news the room yesterday evening welcome to the film for most of us so your room is ready this is a room with a key thank you well this is a bit special isn't it a five star hotel for a five star event. the viennese ball has taken place in moscow and around europe since two thousand and three it's the brainchild of organizer alexander smuggler and i caught up with him to see why he decided to hold this one in montreal. just. we never did a ball in the locker. we decided to do it and when we were choosing the place we consulted with some. bottles from sweden switzerland

so they said that. look at lunch this is beautiful small town on the lake so i came here spatially to check the place i was impressed so we decided to make both here. more than twenty thousand people have attended alex on the stump says each one is planned down to the last detail how much preparation goes into. that you know it seems. that it is very easy but it is not so definitely. to make a real ball you have several levels but. you have to bring distress to august first at least one thing for nick one just seen the others your fans to care about catering to dance floor in order people to the stability of the dance because and this is all. i can already tell it was going to be

a member of the kazan and according to conduct alfred a very multicultural want to. do this evening is really very special because we have different problems to solve and we have singers from russia and we have a belly phone russia and it will fester from it tell italy and i'm from austria so it's an international event terms of well we'll let you go back because obviously you need thank you very much take it away maestro thank you very much. and. was. as the orchestra continued that practice i headed back to my room with just an hour to go i had to get ready but there's always time to enjoy if you like this.

i think i can say without a shadow of a doubt that i could get used to this. the guests were beginning to arrive but i couldn't resist one last trip to the hotel's engine room. well my nose has led me to probably the most important place in the hotel this evening the kitchen whether carrying all of these things for the ball i'm going to be a little bit careful because i want to get ten angry sets around me that could be dangerous. they're making four courses to

feed four hundred guests so there's not much time to hang around admired their work and with lobster and white growled the menu so to say i was looking forward to dinner. making my mouth water but i'm getting close. while more and more guests began the night with a glass of champagne i went to meet victor and it turned out he had a rather unexpected surprise in store. like i. told him this is and this is my own focus because as we're having one big problem with liking the debutante at the moment i would like to feel and maybe there are never enough men out there always so many beautiful women and never enough men yes my pleasure if you would if you will have a. great. i had planned to hang back and take part in some of the big group dances this time and i was suddenly very nervous if this

was the same years debutante ball it was more important than ever that i didn't mess up still at least i didn't have long to think about it. with dozens of couples performing the figure waltz we did have a few problems with traffic but with a few well timed walls we made it to be end and then we could really enjoy ourselves. you're loving life you know you do you know it might seem like you have

a really pretty it's like mine to be made so maybe you. think i. think they. could come to. this but it certainly leaves you out of breath and it gave me a chance to chat with samia about why she had decided to become a debutante a met so many different younger people who seem to be taking to this what is it that appeals to this as opposed to you know the traditional kind of going out on a friday night is that in a culture that you know. sauce unleashes a feast and it comes from this question this stuff which is starting to live east also very interesting here because of all of last night you know these

unforgettable bodies as well. as the evening wore on the orchestra was replaced by a jazz band and the music became a little less classical but unsurprisingly no one seemed keen to go home. i think the most revealing thing that i can say is i don't want this whole experience to end and maybe that's why people love dogs. so that is just pure magical escapism a long way that i can still. see things you can. see i didn't expect my journey into bowl culture to bring me this far but it had been a fantastic adventure i'm to my surprise i actually don't think i'll be hiking up my dancing shoes and told see it. means.

we might be two hundred years old from the days of war and peace but there is still cools being held both here and abroad and you can imagine even the task of a stove of the lights to attack. the russian dolls tradition is alive and thriving my think. is to tolstoy would have been. wealthy british style signposts and that's not on the title of the finest. markets why not scandals find out what's really happening to the global economy with mikes concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our.

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