typical for male escorts. Organization Each year, almost overnight, the auditorium of the Vienna State Opera is turned into a large ballroom. On the eve of the event, the rows of seats are removed from the stalls, and a new floor, level with the stage, is built. The dress code is evening dress: white tie and tails for men; strictly floor-length gowns for women. White opera gloves are still mandatory for female debutantes at the Vienna Opera Ball. The ball does not start until around 10 pm when the Austrian president and his guests enter the imperial balcony. Their arrival is heralded by trumpets. The Austrian national anthem is played followed by the European anthem. There are performances of the state opera ballet company and classical arias sung by the opera stars. These are normally a small selection of Italian opera and famous Austrian pieces. The highlight of the opening ceremony is the introduction of 180 debutante couples. These are carefully selected young women and men who have successfully completed an application program and a strict classical dance choreography organised by the Elmayer dance school. The debutantes are led into the opera house to the sounds of Carl Michael Ziehrer's Fächerpolonaise. Dances are then, for example, the Polonaise in A-Dur, Op. 40 by Frédéric Chopin and Johann Strauss' Warschauer-Polka. The last dance of the debutantes is always the Blue Danube Viennese Waltz by Johann Strauss II, after which the floor is opened to all guests. The ball runs until 5 am. The opera house offers all access to the guests, with various other rooms and lounges open with different types of music and dance. There is catering on all floors offered by Café Gerstner, as well as a hairdresser, an in-house tailor, and medical teams on standby. Among the many sponsors are Austrian oil and gas company OMV, and Casinos Austria who offers roulette. Various dances moderated by the master of ceremony take place every two hours, such as the popular cotillion. Although not officially allowed, towards the end the tradition is for the guests to take apart the flower decoration on the balcony and shower the remaining dancers with it on the main floor, or take it home. In a joint venture, ORF and BR broadcast live from the ball for several hours each year. In media In 1995 Austrian writer Josef Haslinger published a novel entitled Opernball in