Features

Gowns and glamour were the order of the day as Liverpool's St George's Hall played host to two Viennese Balls.

The sold out events were one of the highlights of Capital of Culture year.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vasily Petrenko, played the music of Strauss for the two balls.

Stars of Strictly Come Dancing Anton du Beke and Erin Boag were there to lead the dancers along with compere Claire Sweeney.

The balls at St George's Hall

The inspiration for the event came from a visit by Johann Strauss to Liverpool in 1838 when he introduced the waltz to the city.

Strauss's great, great, great, great grandson Eduard Strauss said he was thrilled that his ancestor's music is still so popular, "The waltz, the polka, is the best dancing music in the world.

"You have all this modern stuff like hip-hop, but still the youngsters dance to the music of my family."

The Viennese Balls are a precursor to the exhibition at Tate Liverpool of the work of Gustav Klimt which begins at the end of May.