Learn to Dance :: Waltz - Online, in your area, DVD. PDF Print E-mail

 

Timing: 3/4 (3 beats per bar)

Tempo: 28-32 Bars per minute

 

ìThe waltz never quite goes out of fashion; it is always just around the corner; every now and then it returns with a bang . . . It is sneaking, insidious, disarming, lovely. . . .The waltz, in fact, is magnificently improper-the art of tone turned lubricious. . . . There is something about a waltz that is irresistible. Try it on the fattest and sedatest or even on the thinnest and most acidulous of women, and she will be ready, in ten minutes, for a stealthy smack behind the door-nay, she will forthwith impart the embarrassing news that her husband misunderstands her and drinks too much and is going to Cleveland, O. on a business trip tomorrow.î† - H.L. Menken, 1919
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A Ball to the Sounds of Strauss (Vladimir Pervunensky, 2005)Probably the most famous of all the dances, the waltz is known and danced by millions of people worldwide. The standard dance is often referred to as the 'slow' Waltz or the 'English' Waltz by other cultures that know the faster Viennese Waltz as Waltz. Originating from the L‰ndler, which was an eighteenth century Austrian folk-dance, the Waltzís enduring appeal is due to its ability to adapt and change.

In July of 1816 the Prince Regent hosted a ball in London and the Waltz was introduced for the first time to the English court, where it gained in favour and popularity. The editorial in the Times a few days later was far from favourable though:

 

"We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last ... it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion."† - The Times of London, 16th July 1816
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The ëobsceneí waltz was looked upon with disapproval by the older generation, and dancing masters saw it as a threat to the profession due to its simplistic nature and, relatively, easy step pattern which contrasted the complexities of the other court dances like the Minuet. It is to be noted that Queen Victoria, who was a keen ballroom dancer had a special love of the Waltz.


The entry for the Waltz in the Oxford English Dictionary had the terms ìriotous and indecentî as late as 1825. The romantic grandfather of the ballroom dances took a while to be accepted, and it is easy to see the influence that it had on all the subsequent close hold dances that followed.


The American style waltz often involves breaking contact with your partner and dancing figures that might be more recognisable in some of the latin dance choreography. Exciting in its own way it is described under the category of American Smooth.


Whether starting a new relationship with the eveningís last dance or celebrating a wedding or anniversary, the Waltz remains the only dance whose innate romance links it inextricably with lifeís happier moments. Today, the romance of the Waltz is complemented by and danced to some great modern soft rock classics.

The Waltz is one of the five dances danced in International Ballroom competitions and its elegance and beauty can be seen danced on the hit TV shows Strictly Come Dancing in the UK and Dancing with the Stars in the USA.†

 

Examples of (slow) Waltz Tunes:

If You Don't Know Me by Now - Simply Red?

Take It to the Limit - The Eagles?

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin?

Moon River - Danny Williams

?Love Ain't Here Anymore - Take That?

Come Away With Me - Norah Jones?

At This Moment - Michael Buble?

Not The Girl You Think You Are - Crowded House

 

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