| A visit
to Vienna is incomplete without having tried the Viennese
waltz. Seize the chance and put on your dancing shoes and
will glide in three-four time.
The Viennese waltz has its
origins in the 18th century with the advent of a bourgeois
society. The intricate patterns of aristocratic dances (i.e.
decorous quadrille or minuet) were superseded by a more intimate
form of dancing with a couple embracing each other and moving
jointly over the dance floor. Quite a scandal in its time!
The dance itself originates from a
traditional Austrian dance: the 'Ländler'. This
dance was popular all over the country and infiltrated the
Austrian capital and high society via inns at the outskirts.
Weekend outings brought the Viennese population to those inns
where social etiquette was less strict than in the capital's
ballrooms. Couples started pairing off and dance to 'Ländler'
tunes in typical three-quarter time. In contrast to the country
side those inns did offer parquet floors and allowed for the
movements to become more elegant and gliding. The dancers
also sped up…
At the beginning of the 19th century
the new dance conquered Vienna's ballrooms with substantial
help by two great Austrian composers and lifelong friends:
Josef Lanner and Johann Strauss Sr.
The Viennese waltz is much faster
than the modern waltz and allows for dashing movements by
changing the direction of rotation mid-dance ('Linkswalzer'
and 'Rechtswalzer').
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