Carnivale de Venezia – Il Ballo del Doge
I have visited Venice on many occasions but participating in the Venice Carnival Masked Ball – Ballo del Dodge on February 10th 2018 remains etched in my memory. The event hosted and created by the illustrious event manager and creator Antonia Sautter takes place at the Palazzo Pisani Moretta, with magical views across the Canal Grande. It is considered one of the most refined and exclusive Venetian Masked Balls.
Every year the imaginative creator takes on a new theme and to commemorate the event’s 25th anniversary, the theme of the ball was – Rebirth and Celebration. The creator’s mains artistic creations of the Ball was Renewal through Birth, Nature, Time and Passion.
“This is an experience to be gone through with all the five senses; guests are thrown into a unique atmosphere melding Baroque remembrances and fantastic sceneries, they wear period costumes hailing from my atelier and taste a modern reinterpretation of an eighteenth-century feast, as seen through the filter of my imagination. All this happens overnight; a night which will stay indelibly engraved on their memory as pure magic” shares Antonia:
As I stepped out from the boat at the Canal’s Grande entrance to the Palazzo, assisted by the elegantly extended hand of a masked baroque concierge, I entered a world of fantasy- a magical fairy tale.
It is what I imagined Alice in the Wonderland to be, only cloaked in the embrace of this magical, eternal floating city.
The Palazzo’s ground floor embodied the creators theme – ‘Re-birth’ and the richness of Mother Nature, against a backdrop of Garden of Eden splendour dancers, acrobats, musicians and guests, wearing the most fantastic baroque frocks.
Climbing the majestic stairs to the first floor of the 15th century Palazzo, one entered a world devoted to the theme of ‘’Fleeting Time’’ – the most precious gift. The creator’s accent on time was dedicated to love, enjoyment, travel and celebration of life and beauty. The centrepiece was a huge ticking clock, its hands extended and ticking in unison with the elegant movements of the dancers and acrobats.
The second floor, where beautifully laid out dinner tables awaited, was dedicated to the world of Pleasure and the celebration of passion, creativity, beauty and freedom. As expressed by the creator Antonia:
“Only if transgression hides an unaware return to instinct and to a life perceived with all the five senses, Rebirth can be actually considered achieved”.
Venice alone is one of the most romantic, breath-taking cities in the world. It is easy to be immersed in its history and to be transported back in time at every corner and every boat ride along the cities winding canals. For this evening, being part of the real fantasy of the ‘’Ballo del Doge, I was truly the Duchess that I may have dreamed about.