Ball gown and tuxedo or tailcoat are often worn when dancing Viennese waltz. A ball gown is the most formal female attire for social occasions A tailcoat is a coat with the front of the skirt cut away so as to leave only the rear section of the skirt known as the tails.

Viennese Waltz (German: Wiener Walzer) is the genre of a ballroom dance. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Ballroom dance refers collectively to a set of Partner dances which originated in Germany and are now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the At least three different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing, danced to the music of Viennese Waltz. The waltz is a ballroom and folk Dance in time, performed primarily in Closed position. The waltz is a ballroom and folk Dance in time, performed primarily in Closed position.

What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the waltz and the first ballroom dance in the closed hold or "waltz" position. The dance that is popularly known as the Waltz is actually the English or slow waltz, danced approximately at 90 beats per minute with 3 beats to the bar (the international standard of 30 measures per minute) while the Viennese Waltz is danced at about 180 beats (58-60 measures) a minute. This is the list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances To this day however, in Germany, Austria and France, the words "Walzer" (German for "waltz") and "valse" (French for "waltz") still implicitly refers to the original dance and not the slow waltz.

The Viennese Waltz is a rotary dance where the dancers are constantly turning either in a clockwise (natural) or anti-clockwise (reverse) direction interspersed with non-rotating change steps to switch between the direction of rotation. A true Viennese waltz consists only of turns and change steps. Other moves such as the fleckerls, American-style figures and side sway or underarm turns are modern inventions and are not normally danced at the annual balls in Vienna. Furthermore, in a properly danced Viennese Waltz, couples do not pass, but turn continuously left and right while travelling counterclockwise around the floor following each other.

As the Waltz evolved, some of the versions that were done at about the original fast tempo came to be called specifically "Viennese Waltz" to distinguish them from the slower waltzes. In the modern ballroom dance, two versions of Viennese Waltz are recognized: International Style and American Style. This is the list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances This is the list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances

Today the Viennese Waltz is a ballroom and partner dance that is part of the International Standard division of contemporary ballroom dance. Ballroom dance refers collectively to a set of Partner dances which originated in Germany and are now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the Partner dances are the Dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually This is the list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances

History

The Viennese Waltz, so called to distinguish it from the Waltz and the French Waltz, is the oldest of all ballroom dances. The waltz is a ballroom and folk Dance in time, performed primarily in Closed position. It emerged in the second half of the 18th century from the German dance and the Ländler in Austria and in the beginning was disapproved-of on account of its "lasciviousness", e. The ländler is a folk Dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich g. because the ladies' ankles were visible. Later it gained official acceptance and even popularity due to the Congress of Vienna at the beginning of the 19th century and the famous compositions by Josef Lanner, Johann Strauss I and his son, Johann Strauss II. The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of the major powers of Europe, chaired by the Austrian statesman Clemens Wenzel von Metternich Johann Strauss I (German Johann Strauß (Vater) born in Vienna, (March 14 1804 &ndash September 25 1849 was an Austrian Romantic Johann Strauss II (also known as Johann Strauss the Younger, Johann Strauss Jr

In the 1920s in Germany the Viennese Waltz became outdated as more modern and dynamic dances emerged. In England the Viennese Waltz acclimatized, there Boston and later Waltz were preferred. The waltz is a ballroom and folk Dance in time, performed primarily in Closed position.

At the beginning of the 1930s the Viennese Waltz had its comeback as a folk dance in Germany and Austria. Folk dance is a term used to describe a large number of dances mostly of European origin that tend to share the following attributes originally danced in about the Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The former military officer Karl von Mirkowitsch made it acceptable both for society and ballroom, since 1932 the Viennese Waltz has been present on ballroom dance floors. About the same time, the Viennese Waltz had its comeback also as a (folk dance) in The Greater Cleveland Ohio U. S. A. Area. It was because the greatest number of Slovenians (60,000 - 80,000) settled in that area. Slovenia, being right below Vienna Austria, was influenced in their folk dance by the Viennese Waltz. Frankie Yankovic, Slovenian from Cleveland Ohio traveled the world playing his version ("Cleveland Style" as per Polka Hall of Fame, Euclid Ohio)of the Viennese Waltzes. His Blue Skirt Waltz went Platinum 1949. Even in 2007, there are several opportunities to waltz each week in The Greater Cleveland Area. In 1951 Paul Krebs, a dance teacher from Nürnberg, combined the traditional Austrian Waltz with the English style of waltzing and had great success at the dance festival in Blackpool in the same year. Blackpool (/ˈblækˌpul is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. Since then the Viennese Waltz is considered a full privilege member of the International Standard ballroom dances; in 1963 it was added to the Welttanzprogramm which is the fundament of European dancing schools. This is the list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances

The Viennese Waltz has always been symbol of political and public sentiments. It was called the "Marseillaise of the heart" (Eduard Hanslick, a critic from Vienna in the past century) and was supposed to "have saved Vienna the revolution" (sentence of a biographer of the composer Johann Strauss I), while Strauss I himself was called the "Napoleon Autrichien" (Heinrich Laube, poet from the north of Germany). " La Marseillaise " (la maʁsɛˡjɛz in English The Song of Marseille) is the National anthem of France. Eduard Hanslick ( September 11, 1825 – August 6, 1904) was a Bohemian Austrian writer on music A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turnaround" is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively Johann Strauss I (German Johann Strauß (Vater) born in Vienna, (March 14 1804 &ndash September 25 1849 was an Austrian Romantic Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Heinrich Laube ( September 18, 1806 - August 1, 1884) German Dramatist, Novelist and theatre-director was born

Technique and styles

Musical Form

• Fast triple time (usually 3/4 time) - as opposed to typical waltzes which can be between 60-90 beats per minute, Viennese Waltz music (such as the well-known "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss Junior) is typically in the range of 120-180 bpm. In Mathematics a triple is an n-tuple with n being 3. A triple is a sequence of three elements The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau op Johann Strauss II (also known as Johann Strauss the Younger, Johann Strauss Jr
• Slow harmonic pace - same chord is used throughout a whole bar and usually repeated for several bars.
• Simple Harmonies - occasionally uses chromatic or dissonant appoggiaturas.
• Homophonic texture
• "Um-Cha-Cha" accompaniment - bass note on first beat then other notes on second and third. In Music, homophony (hoʊˈmɒfəni from Greek "homófonos" where ομοιο = the same and φωνή = a sound tone is a texture in which two or more
• Ternary form ABA style - Waltz 1-Waltz 2-Waltz 1
• Vamp base - the first beat of one bar is the key note, and in the following bar it is the dominant note. Ternary form is a structuring mechanism of a piece of music Along with several other Musical forms ternary form can also be applied to dance choreography This pattern continues until the chord changes. This only occurs in some waltzes.

International Style Viennese Waltz

International Style Viennese Waltz is danced in closed position. This is the list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances In partner dancing, closed position is a category of positions in which partners hold each other while facing at least approximately toward each other The syllabus is limited to Natural and Reverse Turns, Changes, Fleckerls, Contra Check, Left Whisk, and canter time Pivots (Canter Pivots). A Natural Turn is a Dance step in which the partners turn around each other to the right (clockwise A Natural Turn is a Dance step in which the partners turn around each other to the right (clockwise A flekerl is a dance step most commonly found in the Viennese Waltz. Canter time, canter timing or canter rhythm is a two-beat regular rhythmic pattern of a Musical instrument or in Dance steps within 3/4 time The term pivot turn or simply pivot refers to certain turning Dance steps which may differ in different dance styles with common character that the turn is a rotational

American Style Viennese Waltz

American Style Viennese Waltz has much more freedom, both in dance positions and syllabus. This is the list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances

See also

• Austrian folk dancing

External links

• Viennese Waltz Videos - videos of Viennese Waltz performances