Waltzing History

For centuries, music and dance have enchanted the lives of many. It is no wonder this is so with all the beautiful melodies and respective movements that exist in the world. One illustrious example is the waltz. The waltz style is characteristic of ballroom dance and folk dance. The dance is said to have received the name, “waltz,” from the Italian word, “volver,” which means, "to turn or revolve." The waltz is most often performed in a closed position following the course of three/four time.

Waltzing dates back to the 1750’s when the peasants of Bavaria, Tyrol, and Styria began dancing what they called a, “Walzer,” or, a dance that was intended for couples. In other parts of the world such as Bohemia and Austria the people were dancing the Landler or Schleifer, which are heavily marked by hopping and stamping.

While the upper classes danced classy dances such as the minuet the peasants (joined by the noblemen) had their own balls with, “inappropriate,” dances. The dance was deemed unacceptable by the upper classes because of the close contact between the partners which the dance required.

As the style became more and more popular the Landler soon removed hopping from its dance and transformed it into a sliding step. The stamping rotation was replaced by gliding rotation, and so the Waltz was born.

Currently there are several different types of waltz dance styles performed in other time signatures like two/four or five/four instead of the traditional three/four. The faster versions of the contemporary ballroom waltzes are known as the Viennese Waltz named so after the Viennese who customarily dance in a quicker beat. Other styles include the Tango Vals, the Cross Step Waltz and the Venezuelan Waltz among others.